Syracuse University - Onondagan Yearbook (Syracuse, NY)

Page 33 text:

r-° Dnonftagan ga?fW WttH,t938 CHANCELLOR ' S . MESSAGE EACH Onondagan is a record of the con- temporary state of the University — a record largely in picture form. From these pictures, from the names and character of the or- ganizations which appear in the book, and from the lists of mem- bers, a competent interpreter may easily determine just what the University was like in the year which the Onondagan represents. The file of Onondagans con- stitutes an elaborate series of an- nals of the life of the University. From them, from other college publications, and from the daily papers, a skilled and sympathetic historian will some day recon- struct and tell the wonderful story of the University. It will be very much a human interest story. It will be a story of steady progress. Each gain, large or small, represents the vision of the many builders who have worked together to make the University what it is today. Who were — who are these builders? To name them all would be to reproduce the lists of those who have come to the University as students, of those who have served as faculty members, or administrative officers; of those who have toiled on the physical plant of the institution, of those who have served on its board of trustees, and of those who have made up its legion of friends. Among the builders whose contributions are significant may well be named the members of the student body whose names appear in the Onondagan of 1938. Through your effort the University has grown and gained in prestige. You probably did not fully realize what you were doing. You were working for im- mediate ends, without much thought of the abstract welfare of the University. But in so far as your efforts were sincere and unselfish, they have helped to make a stronger and a better University. We go on from a higher level than we have ever reached before. The current year has seen two very important additions to the physical plant of the University. It has also seen the assembling of the largest student body in the history of the institution. As a result we have become very con- scious of our limitations. We see clearly that we must not permit our enrollment to grow any larger. Even to take care of what we now have, we are in need of another large class-room building. We are m great need of adequate dormitory accommodations for our women students. We need a Woman ' s building, including a gymnasium for women. We need a theatre along with what might be grouped around it. We could very well use a field house. We would use to great advantage an auditorium large enough to care for the audience which assembles for the commencement exercises. That we feel these needs is very definitely part of our con- temporary history. But in stating them, I seem almost to be in- dulging in prophecy of that which is to come. I wonder! Chancellor