Shaw University - Bear Yearbook (Raleigh, NC)

Page 25 text:

The Shaw University Journal « « « Ivy Oration By Ophelia Durham, ’39 One of the major problems facing us on the eve of graduation is that of adjusting ourselves to the kind of world in which we must live and work. For four years we have been living in an atmosphere which has been conducive to our aspirations. We have lived in an atmosphere of helpfulness and of love. We have been reminded that we were in the process of becoming, and that our success in the world would depend upon the manner in which we reacted to the learning process. The wisdom which has been accumulated over a period of years by our esteemed faculty has been trans- mitted to us. We have been stimulated, encouraged, and enlightened in this social group that we have delighted to call the Shaw Family. We are now ready to go out into the world, and let us hope, attain success. But alas, what a chaotic world we face as we leave the college walls. It is not exactly what I would call a Utopia. It is a world that was not made by students, yet, we must find or make our way in it. We need scarcely go out of the bounds of Shaw University to discover that we are leaving the protected life of students in the most crucial period of our industrial history. It is not necessary to go out of the State of North Carolina to see unusual conditions of poverty and suffering. For ex- ample, we need only to look at the uncertain tenancy of the numerous farmers and agricultural workers in the State; or the plight of the wage earner who works hard to find that his labor has earned for him a bare subsistence. Not only do we face economic instability in our State, but we, as Negroes, are always living within the shadow of race prejudice. It is my belief, and I believe the conviction of most intelligent observers, that race prejudice, instead of being based on innate instinct, is an acquired social attitude. Therefore, until the masses of people are educated out of this negative social attitude, there can he no complete cooperative contact between the two races. We will most certainly face grave racial injustice in the world into which we go. To illustrate the type of discrimination which we must face, may I use an example from the profession into which most of us will go — teaching. According to the find- inds of Dr. Nelson IT. Harris of our faculty, the North Carolina salary for a white teacher who has had no teaching experience is equal to the maximum salary for Negro teachers. Shifting our view from North Carolina to focus on the country as a whole, we see widespread unsettlement and insecurity. For ten years now, we have been laboring under the effects of a depression for which we were in every way completely unpre- pared. What was much worse, as a result of post-war prosperity, we had come to believe that we could never again have hard times. And then in 1929, even before the October crash, the wheels of industry began to slow down. Unemployment be- came, after 1929, the most serious problem this country had to solve. The provision of food and shelter for these millions of unemployed has placed a tremendous burden on our government. Since 1932, when Federal aid was first given, the national government has made exceedingly large appi opi iations annually for relief measures. In spite of governmental procedures, and the apparent upward trend in business since 1936, there are still more than nine million people out of work in this country. And of the people at work, one out of every four or five is working only part time. We are beginning to realize that however prosperous we may become, unemploy- ment will be with us for a long time; that it is part of the present system of produc- tion, and not to be cured while that system is in effect — though it may, of course be temporarily suspended in case of another war. We must resign ourselves to permanent unemployment for millions until we make fundamental changes in our economic and social system. This means, of course, that we must develop a govern- ment program to care for the men and women who cannot find jobs in industry, and it is doubtful that even such a program can take care of all of the unemployed. To further complicate the national scene, the election of 19 40 looms ominously in the background. The period preceding an election is one of uncertainty; no one knows what to expect, and so everyone waits. The result will be an even greater increase in unemployment during the next year and a half. Business enterprises, not knowing the policies of the incoming administration will refuse to invest large sums; Page Twenty-Three

Page 24 text:

The Shaw University Journal Senior Class History » » » ( Cont inued) following official positions: William Raines (later elected president of the student body), president of the local branch of the N. A. A. C. P.; Mildred Moore president of the University Cheering Squad; Vincent Tibbs, president of Student Credit Union- Frank Matthewson, acting president of Y. M. C. A.; Ophelia Durham presiden oi Le Cercle Francais; Johnny Christian, president of the Varsity Club ’ P 1 For the first time in the history of the Alpha Omicron Honor’ Society four inniors were accepted into membership. These were: Vina Phillips Marguerite Carson Mildred Moore, and Vincent Tibbs, who was the first Shaw letter mfn to fuS the organization s requirements in three years. Hollis Creecy, one of our three letter men, was the first in recent years to earn the undisputed rie-ht tn fw 5 in r T A a tnp k Tha v M r a i y , a ugnt t0 a first place medal m u i- A - A - tiack fhe 1 . M. C. A. selected a member of our class Vinopnt Tihhc as representative to the Youth Christian Conference in Oxford Ohio- the Y W C A chose two members of our class, Marguerite Rogers ami n»„L sentatives to the annual King ' s Mountain ConfeTence Wnh Winie F man X T guerite Carson, Mildred Moore, Marion Brame nlaving nn iivot 1 reeman ’ Ma y basketball squad won the long cherished championship. am ’ our women s Grainger Browning and Vincent Tibbs travelled extensively „ Rho Debating Society. Our .Junior-SenLrProm Sigma whose place we were to glorify the following year. ' tnbute to the class Realizing that our sojourn at Shaw had been an unusual „„„ -a , steady decreasing number and the complexity of surviving the ' ? onsi denng our presidents, three deans of women, and two deans of men , administration of two ments of the past and sought to make t£7s ou“a 8 t ouT hanne Shed our achieve - J. Francis Price, who has been adviser to nine clasLs dnrina l - y ® ar ‘ Professor University, saw fit to lend us his highly esteemed service wf L ifth 1-8 at our “animal kingdom” soaring to unusual heights on in V f. began the year with Fleming as co-captains of the team. fullback. No Shaw man had received such rating in the nast en 1 1 C ,’ T V A ‘ A ' able leadership of our Mr. John Christian and the cooperation of U der t . h ® members, the Varsity Club arranged the most colorful and successful u 7 Sen .‘° r activities featured during the history of the University Basketfu V 1 Honl ecoming and with it the recognition of Mr. John Marable as the flvsi ol season a PProached position on an all C. I. A. A. basketball team Shaw man to merit a Our women’s basketball team retained the championshin with m- at ■ as captain. The first semester honor roll showed tb-iftw th M ’ SS Marion Brame honor rating for seven consecutive semesters. These two were m- 10 ” bad retained president of Alpha Omicron, and Primrose EarnweU In I MlSSes Vina Philli P®- honor society, we added Misses Durham, Rogers and Barnwell in the which had been represented on many occasions and in many nbmJ n Dramatics Club, class, featured such players as Misses Eloise Pierce Margnew fn by m t mbers 9f Beulah Williams, Mildred Moore, Ophelia Durham M m ® ? arson ' Mi ' l ' Vd Wall, , Evans, and Casper Hill. In all active organiLtTo’ns on the Vi Cent Ti FraukA representative group. Mr. Leroy McLaurin became editor in chief which began to show progress. V luel oijqqm JoiijjrxAL, According to available records the valedictorian of our class W- Ya A v graduating Summa Cum Laude, was the first student to Durham, years with an average of 2.9. g a d u a (M n ' t ljupe and a half After such a fruitful stay we leave Shaw We feel proud to have given so much to an iwnuuc history. Our achievements are memorable to us onlv Wcnnsel ,L ‘ ' C“ ' ' ‘T aKm S us institution deeply engraved in our hearts. Shaw uiiWsit,, Wj 5 ' . ve i be riefited an “ • - ‘ aw uiwvei S ,ty Ws given jjo u invalu- able treasures. Our farewell is indeed a sad a io gradua iMnTlv e and a half n t lu f h be M lace tkn we L W it o us onir4cauf ■ ah - dly r n S its srsity IV Page Twenty-Trvo

Page 26 text:

The Shaw University j n it r m t. 7 ' H Ivy Oration » » » ( Continued) consequently, with less money in circulation drop to an even lower level. ' nations which already exist will Just as our national situation is the back-wad, ... national instability resulting fr om thVL C me W u°e th V!°:.!l W „ a ' S ?™ , flnd tators, communistic, tascistic, and totalitarian ■ W h ve seen the rise of dlc - equitable distribution of wealth and justice a£tem Pt to secure a more present is Fascism. I shall neither attempt to define dlStu, ' bing of these forces at Fascism, for we can all see that it has become i sor ® , T. traC ° the development of its interpretation, we can see what confusion n f wm-i i ° n tbe body Politic. Whatever by Fascist manipulations. We have seen the march ' 1 haS been brou S ht about the shape of the map. and that process of chanaeil i 80131 n the W01 ' ld change march and was soon joined by Germany B IS St g0lng on. Italy began tlie Mussolini’s first conquest was in Ethiopia Hitm ■ then marched into Austria, and just last fall int„ r ™ i order not to be outdone, Mussolini took over Albania; and Hitler has his eves on A few weeks ag °’ between Germany and the Black Sea. yes Poland and the small nations The minority races of the world have become ■ , their treatment at the hands of these factions W y restless as a result of and American Negroes are all facing oppression „ , lnd ' an s Chinese, Ethiopians, for power, the oppressors have saved no interests LT a;|0rity groups. In their greed fusion among world powers becoming greater each i Spared no feelings. With con- will soon follow. Should Fascism win a world A.’ U seems inevitable that war would appear as brilliant sunshine. ’ ttle darkness of the Dark Ages Realizing that this is the kind of world into which fitting to consider ways of doing and ways of think’ g ° to live and work, it seems must have high ideals. Ideals are the most nowerD, f h S world ’ Pil ' st of all. we ideals and high station cannot long retain comnanv ra , eS known to man. Low life; they are as “lamps to our feet.” Robert Brown - Idea i S Iight up tbe journey of this principle of conduct— “Ah, but a man’s reach shorn aS Very effect ively stated a heaven for?” cn should exceed his grasp, or what ' s Furthermore, as m embers of a minoritv eronn , groups. We cannot afford to pattern our lives hv hl ' 1 avoi d the vices of majority the white race. The educated few in our race must sh Standards set by members of We must strive for the best for ourselves and at the r a double responsibility, of living and provide increased opportunities for the ,? nlT U “ e raise the standards We must exemplify a superior morality, otherwise uneducated masses of our people, of the white race. se we ca n not protest against practices As college graduates, we will be expected t We face a world which is decidedly different from one® Va ‘ Ues received in college, expected to keep in sight those principles which we ho Can PUS WOrld ’ but we are which our lives are to he governed. We face the wo, -Id i® ad ° Pted as sta »dards by o fall back on our inner resources. As students ZIl l° ne ’ and we will b e forced to despair, disillusion, or defeatism, if j t has . ’taken m’ii’ IS ° aV ° id bec °ming prey mankind must we fret if it takes us a few years to If?” 8 of yeai ' s to develop mankind. Must we quit if we don’t get there quicklv’ T T® the rank and flle o£ cal age of higher criticism it is not considered erudi e ' n reallze that in this skepti- However, we find a piece of very sound advice in f . modern to Quote the Bible. We shall reap if we faint not.” l n a world such as nil ’ chapter six . verse nine— our success will depend upon how well we can “stick Sha11 face tomorrow, We will have to bring certain qualities » s tfck-to-it.” worthwhile I certainly think that we as young ° ' ' der to acc °mpHsh anything courage The world’s heroes have been men of conr ® gradUates wiU need to bring be regarded as a coward. As we go fort 1 c ° lr ase. Not one of us wishes t „ prompted Henry Martin Tapper to leave the si!, n ® ed the kind of courage that to come to Raieigh to establish Shaw Universitv A- y hls . boin e in Massachusetts wavering cour- lift Godward his to come to Raleigh to establish Shaw Universitv nm , blS ho,ne in Massach Kowt ™ “St serve, to perform som useful Us k, 1 to “c n tri b u t e ' S 1 1 Service ’ To work means to of the world. To illustrate that it is nobler t0 turning the wheels thaii to be served, Christ washed Page Twenty-Four Continued on page twenty-six