Springfield College - Massasoit Yearbook (Springfield, MA)

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THE MASSASOIT 19 12 9 Greetings c Perfection is not reached by doing uncommon things, ‘But by doing common things uncommonly r te ell. ' T ' HIS has been our motto in compiling this volume of THE MASSASOIT. Tho like all worthy ideals it has been beyond our grasp, still the effort to attain it has called forth greater powers of intellect than would have been possible with a less lofty purpose. We have given you our best. The Class of Nineteen Twelve bids you All HAiL! Behold! We who are about to Live salute you.

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8 THE MASSASOIT — 1912 Class $onn a Today we leave old Massasoit, We’re going to say good-bye, We’re leaving now for fields of work Her teachings to apply. We came, we saw: to conquest now. Perhaps defeat to some, But we’ll start strong with this desire To help God’s kingdom come. In school or college, field or “gym,” Whatever work that’s tried, Our aim will be to help mankind As Christ exemplified. We see the wakening, prophets old Foretold in Christendom, Our prayer will be that manly work May help God’s kingdom come. God speed the time when all that work Shall join with one another, To teach as Christ, that here in life Each man is each man’s brother. So thus we go to fill our place, By work to show our worth, To do our best to help advance God’s kingdom here on earth. When after years of toil we pause To gaze upon life’s stage, And look to see what good we’ve done Along our pilgrimage, Perhaps our work will be obscure, But great our joy, if then We realize whate’er the pain, We’ve lived and toiled for men.

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10 THE MASS ASOIT — 1912 Z )t Ctoolutton of Z. HE development of a college may be considered from several standpoints. One method of measur- ing its growth is by noting the increase of students, another the installation of new courses and the improvement of the old. We may also consider its expansion from the standpoint of the alumni, who by their loyalty to their Alma Mater are always influencing the communities in which they live, and are thus silent factors in increasing the number of its friends, thereby helping to build up the institution. A third standard of measurement is a consideration of the material growth and progress. At this time when the name of our school has been changed to the “International Y. M. C. A. College” it is fitting that we glance back over the years intervening since the inception of a “School for Christian Workers” and trace in brief something of its rise to the present standard of efficiency and achievement. We are conscious of the fact that much of this material has appeared in print before, but as “history repeats itself” we give the facts below with unblushing candor. The Muse of history carries us back to the early eighties of the past century. When David Allen Reed came to this city in 1881 there was no Young Men’s Christian Association and no special work for the young men of his church. The young men of the church were organized, and consulted with association men in New York and Boston about the conditions in the city. It was found that it was very difficult to obtain good leaders and although the associations of the country were growing rapidly, they were greatly handicapped because of the lack of men qualified for the general secretaryship. To help meet this need and to train laymen lor other lines of Christian work, a plan for a special school was worked out. Messrs. McBurny, Morse and Uhl of New York, II M. Moore and Russel Sturgis, Jr., of Boston, and D. A. Budge of Canada were consulted and offered to help in any way they could, without committing the associations to the plan. The course of study as then worked out was to be two years, to include the Bible, church history, biogra- phies of successful laymen, rhetoric and composition, music, physiology, light gymnastics and a course in all the phases of association work. The school was opened on January 5, 1885. Local clergymen and a physician were pressed into the service as instructors in the general course and Mr. J. T. Bowne was secured as an instructor in the association