Swarthmore College - Halcyon Yearbook (Swarthmore, PA)

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words, that he ahvays gave fair treatment. He rarely ]jroniise(l any- thing but opportunity to vorI : ; Init if lie (Vn promise, he g ' ave more than he promised. He is a rare judge ' of men, of the possibilities latent in an under- graduate, of the effectiveness of a teacher, of the clearness of vision of an alumnus. In every institution with which he has been connected, he has instinctively found those who naturally would give to the insti- tution friendship, or influence, or money, or all of them. His vision as an educational leader is excellent. He became presi- dent of Indiana University, his Alma Mater, in 1893. I think, as I write, of the number of policies he initiated there that have since grown into gigantic forces working- for the universit y and for the spiritual welfare of the place, and marvel at his foresight. The phenomenal growth of Swarthmore in the nineteen years of his administration shows that he is a practical seer. In these tw-enty-seven years, too, a great number of fads have come above the educational horizon. Some of these have proved their worth and, strengthened and modified, have become integral parts of the American colleg ' e curriculum. Others have not. It is an interesting fact that those new things that were tried in the colleges of which he w-as president were in the former class. Joseph Swain has a great body, a great intellect, and a great heart, but the greatest of these is his heart. John A. Miller. President Joseph Swain will be known in the annals of Swarth- more as a master builder. His craftsmanship was tested at Indiana University where, under his leadership, the Universitv was placed on a firm financial basis and the growth in buildings and ecjuipment kept pace with the demands of the times. During his administration, ex- tending over a period of almost twenty years, Swarthmore ' s endow- ment has been increased sevenfold, and every building on the campus is either new or enlarged. This record alone would make Dr. Swain ' s place in Swarthmore ' s history secure. As a builder of material things he is great, but he is greater as a builder of men. He has unusual power in making people believe in themselves. There are men in all parts of the world who were in- spired by Dr. Swain to do things which they themselves thought thev

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Swartl)more ' s faster ! uil6cr (Dr. liller and Dean Alexander, as those two Swarthmoreans who have known President Swain longest and most intiniatel}-, were asked to write articles about him for the Halcyon. The results fol- low, one in the form of a letter, the other as an article ) : Dear Mr. Editor : It is ith great pleasure that I undertake to comply with your request. I am afraid. howe -er, that I cannot ap] roach the cjuestion of Dr. Swain ' s personal qualities in a judicial manner. Thirt --fi -e •ears of intimate association — always helpful to me — has led me to endow him with almost superhuman qualities. He was my course adviser and teacher for four undergraduate years and for one graduate year. I taught in two universities in a department of which he was the head. Since 1895, I ha e been a professor in an institution of which he was president. The self-same qualities which characterize him as a great teacher and a great colleague ha ' e made him a great president. In each of these capacities he has been a leader, — a leader of an ever-in- creas ing throng of forceful men and omen ; a throng that contains neither a drone nor a weakling. He believes in the gospel of work. He has worked ver} ' ' hard himself and found great joy in it. It was a tradition among his stu- dents that no one ever came to his classes unprepared. He has an un- compromising sense of loyalty, to an ideal, to a cause to which he de- votes himself. To such a cause he gave his best powers, enlisted the best in others, and he never was contented until the best that could be obtained was a part of such an institution. He engenders the same spirit of loyalt - in his co-workers. His students of Mathematics (Dr. Swain was a professor of Mathematics) are students of Mathematics now, located in the colleges and univer- sities of this country. Many of them have contributed to the mathe- matical literature of the country either in the way of books or to the leading mathematical journals. The same spirit pervaded his facul- ties. They were as 103 ' al to the institution as he was, and this loyalty was built upon the foundation stone of belief in the cause, and the be- lief that Joseph Swain had engendered, in some w ' ay other than by

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could not do. He is a great frien l. He knows how to earn friend- ship. Sometimes he puts up witli all sorts of incon eniences in the process of adjusting himself to some one else ' s personality. Some- times he accepts grave annoyances and cruel disillusionment as a por- tion, and then vea es them into the whole pattern with skill and toler- ance. He has the unselfishness and sacrifice required for the give and take of friendship. Being always prepared to pay the price of adjust- ing his wishes and plans to those of some one else, he establishes a well grounded, deeply founded friendship. His deep concern for the welfare of his students and friends, the encouragement, adA ice and inspiration which he gave to others is his greatest work. A Swarthmore man writing from the Middle ' est attests this fact in the following words, No longer than I have been out here, I have met scores of people who were directly influenced by Dr. Swain and who regard him almost as a father. A prominent administrator in educational work pays him this tribute : I have acted upon his judg-ment in critical cases as I ha ' e not upon the judgment of any other man. His big, hearty sympathy and his common-sense grasp of situations have united to make him the sort of a friend that one prizes most highly. Another man, a life-long friend, prominent in the educational life of the nation, says, He lo -es folks. His friend- ship never wavers. He is always the same, never blows hot or cold. He never goes ofif at a tangent, but is always sane, considerate, kind, agreeable, honest. He never indulges in tricks or sharp practices. He is never envious or jealous. He sees the good points in all persons, his friends and others (so far as I know, he has had few if any enemies). One who is associated intimately in business with President Swain knows him to be a great teacher, who has penetrated to the heart of human nature. With a business associate, his attitude is that of a friend. He impresses one as exceedingly human, and in this way merits one ' s confidence. In another way he Ijecomes a learned judge or recognized expert. He inspires one to do things because one be- lieves that he has the wisdom to direct. It is always easy to do the thing that Dr. Swain wants one to do. A Swarthmore man success- ful in scientific research and in business expresses what many have found to be true when he says, The big influence, and a very impor- tant one, too, that Dr. Swain had on my career was his practice and