Ripon College - Crimson Yearbook (Ripon, WI)

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Human Relations of Ripon College The Editor Interviews Prexy Editor: Prexy, you were a student at Ripon through Preparatory School and College, and twelve years after grad nation you were called to the presiden cy. We would appreciate a word on the human side of it all. Prexy: One comes of age at 2 1 years. This has been the length of inv service in this beloved community. It has had its ups and downs, :ts joys and sorrows. One word which best defines the work of those years is adjustment. The motive has been constructive loyalty to all our college interests, which are com- plex and interrelated. There are many members in the body known as a col- lege. and all members have not the same office.’ The great danger is that sonic one organ may go into business for itself: which carried to excess makes for disease. No member can say of another. I have no need of thee. You may have heard me say that the whole is very much better and larger than the sum of all its parts. When- ever a part looms larger than the whole, there is need of disciplined prescrip- . fy own lifr has been enr'uhcd by knowing and marking with (he family and students of Ripon College. lion or in an etxreme case, surgical at- tention. Editor: Is the college then a mere sum of interests? Prexy: Decidedly not! A college is not an organization, but an organism. A college is a spiritual entity. There is the public, which through organized government has chartered the college for social purposes, and we must have due respect for the opinions of man- kind. There are the trustees, who have taken their duties and privileges as a voluntary and sacrificial responsibility. Their concern and financial support arc of prime importance. The board of trustees is the final authority. The pres ident and faculty in their leadership of shaping policies must win the confi- dence of this board, and be obedient to its requirements. The faculty is not a group of individ- uals. They are as those who serve the college ideals and policies, chosen be- cause of their ability and integrity, and with a definite responsibility to serve the best interests of the student body. Parents trust their boys and girls to our keeping. Editor: We are especially interested. Prexy. in faculty and student relations, which are so intimate, but at times strained. Prexy: 1 will try to speak a word here, but remember, when I have spok- en briefly and off the reel. I shall still be an unprofitable servant to this theme. The faculty and students have fre- quent misunderstandings. Generally it is because of this only—we do not un- derstand one another. Irresponsible talk is the worst bane. Table talk is —29—

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en days, he never grew old .“I don’t like to go to commencement any more.” said a classmate, “all my friends have grown feeble and old. all except jesse Taintor. The clear burning fire of his joyous undaunted spirit transmuted even his days of failing strength. His smile was a smile to give reassurance and renewed courage to the friends that he met—and all foik were to him potential friends. His clear blue eyes with whimsical twinkle—gave to the less gifted the priceless intimation of a realm of good cheer, quick understand- ing. sympathy, and beauty, deathless and ineffable. And always some of us will hear his gentle interpreting voice reading the lines of Saul he so loved. 'O Saul, it shall he a face like my face that re- ceives thee: a Man like to me. thou shalt love and be loved by forever: a Hand like this hand shall throw open the gates of new life to thee!” —Grace Goodrich. 06. Honors and rewards were justly his. and none more spontaneous and lasting than the affection he engendered in the hearts of those he taught. Of such is the Kingdom of Eternal Wisdom. —Ruth Gower. '11. My memories of Jesse Fox Taintor are very deep and very dear too deep for words to reach, too dear for them to express. Ripon cannot be the same without him but Ripon would not be the college it is had he never been and I like to think that just as we who knew him were touched to our lasting gain by his steadfastness of character, his bril- liance of mind, his charm of manner, so till coming generations of students will receive an impress, intangible but en- during, from that sweet spirit. Some things do not die. “The memory of the just is blessed. and so remains an heritage from the past, a bond in the present, a hope for the hereafter. Abbv Higgins Engelbracht. Dr. Taintor was not a mystical dreamer, or an other-worldly visionary but a very realistic inhabitant of this present world with its pressing cco nomic, political and social struggles and crises. Amid these noisy and su- perficial distractions, he found time and patient industry to cultivate the unseen and eternal wealth and beauty which most people were blindly passing by. He learned to uncover and impart to others the great messages of the Heb- rew prophets. There was born from above and within him that new life of the spirit, which spontaneously flows on unto eternal life. Hundreds of students loved his gen- tle spirit and caught the contagion of his interest in the treasures of English literature, poetry and art. Dr. Taintor was no controversialist. His mind was naturally conservative in theology, politics and social theory. Modestly and consistently he held to views which prevailed in his day. In- quiringly and cautiously he welcomed the relief of tension offered by silence and the new learning but he could nev- er be either a reactionary or a radical. He had an even tempered and triumph- ant faith in the eternal values of truth, goodness and beauty, and he bore an unfailing witness to that faith in the pulpit and the professor s chair. He supported that testimony by a consist- ent Christian character and a heart of love, which came as near embracing all sorts and conditions of men as any man 1 ever knew. His passing brings a pang of pain to hundreds of men and women who in their youth were warmed and uplifted by their contacts with this very genial and very human friend. By his cheer- ful comment and companionable ways he drew a goodly following into the upward way. where they faced fondly toward the things unseen and eternal. In them as in us all this momentary pang will be swallowed up in a victory song for one who has fought a good fight. —Dr. W. J. Mutch. —2 S-

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often nonsense. Gossip and hasty judg- ments cause surface friction, and occa- sionally deep wounds. Face to face interviews with the candor of gentle- men will clear most of these misunder- standings. Time vindicates. My experience hears out this judg- ment. which I have often expressed: the student body is quite uniformly fair and just when acquainted with the facts, and given time enough to digest these facts. I have very little confidence in sudden uprisings, in flares of student opinion, in petitions. 1 have highest confidence and respect for interviews and conferences. These always leave me somewhat modified in my attitude. There are movements which seem to be dictated by temporary and selfish inter- ests. but students are more reasonable than most adults when they relate these interests to the whole situation. Editor: How about the faculty on this point? Prexy: Faculty members, too. are subject to impulsive unbalance in group action. Faculty meetings have occa- sionally shown, especially in former days, that the mob opinion is quite in- ferior in wisdom to the sum total wis- dom of the individuals who compose the faculty. Placing discipline in the hands of the administration has proven more satisfactory to both students and faculty. This admits of weighing evi- dence. patient investigation, due dis- crimination. and proper privacy. Smart snap judgments may be given by teach- ers with reference to students. The president has been tit times wrong in his judgments, and mistaken as to facts. This is all human. Editor: Why should there be friction between faculty and students? Prexy: It is very hard to rid ourselves of something of the master and servant attitude. The class struggle of inter- ests dominant in labor and capital seems to apply to examiner and exam- ined. professor and pupil. I say em- phatically this is not justified by the real experience of teachers and pupils. On the whole there is mutual affection and respect. I have seen this time and again. Our professors consider their pupils as the crown of their rejoic- ing. They are proud of the pupils' advancement, troubled as fond parents by their defects, pained by their de- feats. They really love their students. You students should hear them boast about you! Thev swell up with pride in your successes. Let anyone attack our students if he wants a riot call from the faculty! Editor: We hear much about freedom of speech and shackled student opin- on. What is the case here? Prexy: There has never been any just ground for complaint at Ripon Col- lege. However, no one can expect to be exempt from the social reaction to opinions. Is anyone free, whether fac- ulty member or student, to play the fool in his behavior? Has anyone a right to an opinion whose opinion is not grounded in knowledge and experience? Has Ford the same right to an opinion on history as Freeman? Has Edison the same right to literary criticism as Emerson? Has Huey Long the same right to an opinion on religion as a stu- dent of the literature of religion? We are teaching and studying in college for the right to have opinions. We are all prone to talk without any good right. Too often complaints fly because there is no ground for them! But wait a v hile. and more untrue rumors will blow the others away. Editor: Do not the faculty sometimes have an undue prejudice against a stu- dent or a group of students? Prexy: Yes, I suppose so. And. too. I have known runs on a professor. If long continued. 1 confess the students are generally right. 1 really assume it: but 1 have also known a very popu- lar or unpopular professor, about whom opinion has been reversed in one year's time. It may take four or five years to get his measure. Also. I have known a run on a stu- dent. It is the vogue to deride him. to make smart crack remarks about him: but often the student wins out. I once