Swarthmore College - Halcyon Yearbook (Swarthmore, PA)

Page 10 text:

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DEDICATION hAr. Hick ' s trademark was his smile. It signified not cynicism, but recognition. If he viewed the passing scene with a skeptic ' s eye, he approached it with an optimist ' s enthusiasm. He was wise enough to respect the opinions of all generations. He continually astonished freshman classes as he punctuated his sagacious perspective with penetrating observations on current and prospective affairs. He learned as he taught; he loved and was loved, for both. He told us when we were freshmen that the greatness of literature must be deter- mined by more than literary considera- tions; but that whether or not it was lit- erature could only be determined by literary considerations. If Mr. Hicks were a book — and indeed we respected him as he taught us to respect books — he would have triumphed on both counts. His former students and his many friends are testimonies to this fact. He dedicated his life to Swarthmore. Our far less sig- nificant dedication is that much more meaningful.

Page 11 text:

Good Lord, it ' s like I ' ve never been away. The feeling has always seemed to us as neces- sary a part of a return to Swarthmore as high heels in Commons, missing trunks, registration lines, pro- gram changes, and What did you do this summer? We have expressed the sentiment after every vaca- tion, and have alv ays considered it a slur. Just this year, however, we heard these strange words added to the traditional ones: It makes me feel wonderful. This shocked us. We were forced to admit that we have been disguising a certain amount of af- fection under our sophisticated slur. And that although we have complained for three years, about Collection, the dining room, the conduct committee and the work, we have often had excuses for leaving late in the spring and returning early in the fall. There was good reason for this dishonesty, just as there is a good explanation for our present naked souls. We see this clearly when we remember that the next ticket we buy to the big wide dangerous crowded unfriendly rigid dull conventional authori- tarian world will be a one way ticket. The reason is,of course, that until now we were secure enough to gripe. We are not yet in the position of which Presi- dent Smith spoke. We are not yet able to look back