Southwestern College - Moundbuilder Yearbook (Winfield, KS)

Page 12 text:

A Tradition Begins From a speech by Dean Allen, 1927. I propose the inauguration of a new college custom, absolutely unique among all the colleges of the world. This ceremony is to be known as The Building of the Mound. Nobody but mound- builders can build mounds. So no other college has now, or is ever likely to have such a custom. It is highly appropriate to Mound- builders, but would have little meaning to others. There is a de- cided advantage, I think, in having at least one custom that is abso- lutely distinctive of this institu- tion. So many of our customs are copied, not only by us, but by a thousand other colleges. Such customs, being mere imitations, come to have little significance. But I challenge anyone to point to a college that has anything like what is proposed in the building of the mound. For many years Southwesterners have been known as The Mound- builders. But this was a mere fig- ure of speech. Literally they built no mounds. But now it is pro- posed that they actually do so in a solemn ceremony that will at once symbolize the traditional constructive tendencies of the College, and at the same time pledge the loyalty of faculty and students to Alma Mater. My suggestion is that tonight, at the gloomy hour of nine, every loyal Southwestern student and faculty member come to the foot of the sacred 77. Let every stu- dent who is disgruntled and has in his heart no love for his Alma Mat- er not mar the occasion by his presence. Let every faculty mem- ber who has lost the spirit of youth and has in his make-up no spark of sentiment or sentimen- tality, if you prefer to call it so, stay at home and go to bed. But let all who love Southwestern and who would not only receive bene- fits from their Alma Mater, but also contribute something to her greatness-let all such not fail in this solemn hour and sacred cere- mony. Let each come armed in one hand with a candle, torch or other light and in the other hand with a peb- ble, stone, rock or boulder, on which he has inscribed his name with pencil, chalk, fountain pen, goose-quill, brush, or chisel. Let the college band in full regalia as- semble at the same place fifteen minutes before the hour and dis- course sweet music-or as sweet as may be considering the re- hearsals they have not yet had. Then at the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dul- cimer, saxaphone and all kinds of musick, let each student and Prof. come forth from his home, domicile, room, sleeping porch, attic, or hole and in sol- emn mein and orderly array line up behind the aforesaid band. Then as the bell in the steeple strikes nine, let the trumpets sound an advance, let the candles be lit, and let the column pro- ceed, the band playing, the flags waving, over the campus and up the sacra scala-the seventy-seven steps to heaven-and around the north end of Richardson, lights gleaming, eyes sparkling and noses shining. Onward leading, still proceeding, let the band guide the procession to the hallowed spot'where the mound is to be built. Let all gather close in breathless silence. Let an address be given by some silver tongued orator on loyalty to Southwestern or some similar theme, let the mound be dedi- cated, let prayer be offered, let the bugles sound from over the hills, let each student come for- ward, and instructor too, and, in token of his desire to build his heart and life and spirit into his Alma Mater, press the stone on which he has written his name into the soft cement that shall bind the whole together-not that his rock and name be seen-but that it shall be there, concealed and wrapped up as a token be- tween him and his Alma Mater that they understand one another and are united forever. Then let the tomtoms boom over hill and dale, let all join hands-permitted by special action of the deans for this one occasion only-and let all unite hearts and voices in the singing of Alma Mater . Then let all go home with peace and joy in their hearts that they are a part of our great college. Let none despise the sweet sim- plicity of these ceremonies. Who knows what solemn thoughts, what high resolves, may per- chance be born that night in the heart of some impressionable freshman or sad-eyed senior fac- ing his last year at Southwestern. Even a cocky sophomore, a world-weary junior or a hard- boiled Prof. might, by a miracle of grace, be regenerated in that hour. Let this ceremony be repeated every September as the students assemble at Southwestern, each student putting in one stone each year of his attendance and each instructor one for each year of his

Page 11 text:

Lf 1 , 1. I ,ay QQ NAI 'Q 41500 N ? ,'yK Q : A4 fl N l , 35 fzi -1 'z r Z, LW Q.-.iksmq NCGLQQ Li-THQ 0 . . And The Lines Form lm

Page 13 text:

teaching here, year after year, 'til the memory shall cease of who suggested the custom or how or when it orginated, but still the ceremony shall be carried on and the mound shall grow. Only this year let there be, as a special feature never to be dupli- cated, the dedication of this mound. Let there be placed at its base, deeply imbedded in ce- ment, an iron box containing the original of the enacting docu- ment, a copy of college catalog, illustrated bulletin, student hand- book, Collegian, Moundbuilder, Winfield Courier, of the new ab- sence regulations, a lock of Prexy's hair and whatever else be thought helpful to future genera- tions in understanding the times in which we live, including a pen- ny, a nickel, a cancelled two-cent stamp and a check for one million dollars. Mayhap in eons yet to come some visitant from the South Sea lsland or the planet Mars, sitting on the ruins of Richardson Hall and wondering what strange go- ings-on were conducted by the long since forgotten inhabitants of this campus, will dig down into the mound and after centuries of effort men may be able to deci- pher some of the documents herein contained and exclaim: What fools those mortals werel This year the mound will be low and the sum total of our efforts discouraging, as the beginnings always are. But each year, as hun- dreds and thousands add their contributions to the monumental pile, it will grow with the growth and greatness of the College, and forever be a token of loyalty and devotion, so that visitors to the College will be shown the mound as one of the unique sights of the whole territory around.'And when they ask: What mean ye be these stones? they shall each alumnus reply: Loyalty to South- western so long as this mound shall stand! I am in that monu- ment and so is every son and daughter of the College and our hearts and hands are with her to the end. So shall a new spirit be born and lead Southwestern on from strength and from grace to grace. About this mound, so unique and appropriate a monument to the loyalty of all who have been con- nected with the institution over a long period of years, shall cluster many sacred memories. Here in days to come students shall as- semble to urge on their represen- tatives to grapple with the foe. Here they will gather when the victory shall have been won to celebrate the outcome. Here they shall come to plight their troth 'til death do them part. As one September succeeds an- other, with only a few short months between, this pile will be first a foundation, then a mound, then a monument, then a hill, and finally a mountain. The advantage to the agriculture of Cowley County and finally of Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado will be obvious. These states will gradually be cleared of stones as the students scour, first the vi- cinity of the College for stones to do their part in the ceremony and then are compelled to bring stones from their homes or re- quired to send them in with their applications for admission. An- other advantage to agriculture will be the condensation of mois- ture by this mountain, resulting in a plentiful rain-fall for this section as well as rushing mountain tor- rents which will furnish a purer and cheaper water supply and abundant power for the factories which will be erected to give work to needy students. Other advan- tages now loom over the far hori- zon. Far is surely the right word here. A mountain on our own campus will afford unlimited opportunities for picnics and hikes and for fish- ing in its streams and lakes as well as for hunting in its unexplored forests. The vision of its snow- capped peaks will be an inspira- tion to students and faculty alike to set their affections on things above. Cool summer resorts near at home will be a boon to frugal professors and their unfortunate families. The mountain will afford a splendid location for the South- western Summer School with es- cape from the heat of our South- ern climate. Thus again will be symbolized the invincible spirit of Southwestern. If the mountain will not come to us-then we will build a mountain of our own. Some disadvantages are, howev- er, foreseen and perhaps it may be just as well to specify now that cabins be erected at intervals of every few miles to shelter stu- dents who get lost in the moun- tains and to protect them from the storms till rescuing parties can reach them. Who can tell what may be the end of the pro- ject we start tonight? Let us enter into this matter with spirit and with will. Let us remem- ber what Daniel Webster said in his address at the dedication of Bunker Hill Monument: Man is not made of reason and judgment only but of imagination and senti- ment also. Surely that man who has not sentiment in his soul has something lacking. Let tonight be devoted to sentiment, and let that sentiment be loyalty to Southwestern!