Queens College - Silhouette Yearbook (Queens, NY)

Page 19 text:

Dean arqaret V. liiel Dean Margaret V. Kiely . . . our woman of this or any other year. As Dean she has done far more than her job of supervising student activities and affairs. During the past term Miss Kiely has made an effort, in spite of an already full program, to attend every student function on the campus. And this includes the First Aid classes initiated into the curriculum as a part of the defense program. She likes the students, knows many of them personally, interests herself in their out of school, as well as in school problems. Her valuable service to youth has been recognized off the campus as Well as on. Her influence has always been on the side of honesty, courage, tolerance, and understanding, on the side of conscientious and responsible Work, on the side of democracy, and the things which a democracy must have in its citizens if it is to endure. And to the class of June, 1942 she personifies these things completely. 15

Page 18 text:

. e . ' if 2 . is il t 3 i i si. it il, .it li ti ,,. l gl ,L E. Dear Friends of June 1942, There is a poignancy in the motto of our seal, Discimus ut S6TUl4ll7l'L1,lS, that was not anticipated at the time of its adoption. YVC were to learn that we might serve our fellow men in peace and by serving faithfully make the tragedy of war increasingly remote. But today we must prepare to serve in war and in peace. Each week, students and teachers join our armed forces. Others prepare for civilian defense. Each of us identifies himself with the great war effort. Our day by day teaching takes its color from the need of the hour. lf our conception of dignity of human life is to prevail, then we IUUSK prepare not only for a quickened victory, but also for the inevitable peace in a democratic society. Queens College, like her sister colleges, must continue to be the sanctuary for emerging ideas. Your generation is asked to pay an overwhelming price to preserve the democratic process. But yours will be the high reward. For you shall see the liberation of all peoples through the enrichment of the democratic ideal. Faithfully yours, PAUL KLAPPER I4

Page 20 text:

THE FAC LTY Every freshman class has a revitalizing effect on the Queens College faculty. Come freshman registration day and sloping shoulders are thrown back, chins lifted off the ground, upper lips stiffened, for once more the brow beaten men of letters have someone to impress, some- one to awestrike. But alas, this renewed vigor wears off all too soon. By the end of the six weeks report period a thoroughly wised up fresh- man class joins upperclassmen in referring to Dr. Shaftel as f'Doc, Mr. Kreuzer as James R., Dr. Gayer as Archie, and the Dean as f'Peggy' in their private conversations. The awe has completely worn off and, stripped of their professional dignity, the faculty are once more just part of the mob. But with the loss of their awe appeal they gain a new and decidedly more healthy respect from their students. That covert nickname the Dean gains, that hail-fellow-well-met attitude toward many professors is indicative of a much warmer student-teacher relationship. This re- lationship is made still more cordial by a student personal advisory system, and a tendency toward informal discussion in class. Students and teachers work with each other, not at impressing one another. Thus Queens College hits at a solution to the problem of making the demo- cratic ideal work in the classroom. 1 The democratic ideal at work in a classroom acts in exactly the same way as it does in broader social, political and economic fields. lt requires the utmost in freedom of thought, speech and action. As al- 16 T DIVISION . or soc1AL i SCIENCES