Salem State University - Clipper Yearbook

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the Itlrvaihritfs illlraaagv Some memories cling with remarkable tenacity. l can recall vividly a meeting held in a lloston hotel so many years ago that I hesitate to number them. 1 attended at the request of a friend who had promised an interesting evening, lrut would give no indication of what was to transpire. There were about thirty present-all college students. The chairman was a gangling individual who has since garnered fame and fortune in the purlieus of Hollywood. .Xfter having thanked us perfunctorily for coming, he proceeded to unfold a most amazing scheme, with the details of which he was patently obsessed. He said we represented an aristocracy of brains and were therefore natural leaders of men. He said if wc were at all conscious of this distinction, we should assert and proclaim our hegemony, Specifically, he proposed that we organize ourselves as the nucleus of a group which would inevitably grow in size and iniluence to a point where it would direct and control the policies of our respective coininunities. Lfltimately, 1 assume, we were to govern the Common- wealth and fashion its destiny according to our impeccable design. He was per- fectly and intensely serious. At times his words were almost maudling at others they were, unwittingly, pure burlesque. The strangest thing is that the majority of those present expressed whole-hearted approval of his fantastic plan. I tell the story here because it illustrates a conviction born of experience-Q that there is too much egotism in collegiate ranks. and that something ought to be done about it. The classic example is that of the hundreds of young men and women all over the country who try, each June, to remake the world through the medium of commencement speeches. I am not critical of the content of these speeches texcept that it is visionary and idealisticl, but T do object to the auto- cratic inanner in which it is presented, and I resent the inference conveyed by Mary Smith, AB., and -lohn -lones, .-LM. iaetat. 21 and ZZ respectivelyi that they are self-appointed repositories of the worlds knowledge. and self-possessed intellectual dictators for all mankind. XYhy this superiority complex? Is it because ot the stage of mental de- velopment through which these young people are passing? Is it because of some quirk in instruction or administration ?' Gr is it a combination of both? Let us leave the questions to the psychologist with the suggestion that adequate answers will aid materially the cause of educational progress. The psychologist will not pront greatly by coming to Salem for case his- tories. There is little or no intellectual conceit in our classrooms or on our campus. Our students. by and large, are young people of sound judgment, eager to learn but not carried away by their absorption of learning. That is one reason whv we like them so much. My only excuse for even mentioning the matter is to indicate the pitfall-and point the contrast. QQWJM ka...

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