Trinity College - Trinilogue Yearbook (Washington, DC)

Page 33 text:

lor of Science degrees. The week-end of processions, banquets, organ and carillon recitals, chapel services, dances, and class meetings, came to a close. The doors of the Halls of Learning were shut, and the inhabitants of Trinity went home to forget. The Class of 1936 meekly made its appearance upon Trinity Campus to take its place in the Collegiate Sieve. As a well-known alumnus ably stated it, this sieve is kept in constant agitation by the 13 resident, Dean, Faculty and student organiza- tions. The freshmen find themselves tumbled about with the upperclassmen, get- ting their sharp angles and idiosyncrasies removed. The holes in the sieve represent the many hazards of college life, and only the 'big' men keep from falling throughf' While freshmen were adjusting themselves to the new conditions and being buffeted about by physical examinations, psychological tests and the like, the upper- elassmen noted several improvements in the college grounds. A spacious parking place was being constructed to the south of the campus, the finishing touches on Cook Hall had been completed, new tennis courts had been built, and the old road- way from Alumni Hall to Vernon Street had been replaced by a walk bordered with grass plots. The old brown stone posts and gates from Washington College had been set at the Vernon Street entrance to the walk. Since the early part of the century, these historic iron gates had been left to the ravages of rust in the eatacombs under Northam Towers and their replacement at the entrance of the campus was a mitigating gesture. The Glec Club, the Jcsters, and the Athenaeum absorbed the interested mem- bers of the 1936 class, and the outlook for these societies appeared promising. In the early part of the year a war was waged, Students vs. Faculty, concerning the Extra Course? Thirty Dollars! The war was waged in printers' type, edi- torials and communications. The extra charge for courses over five was made only after due consideration and deliberation by Faculty and Trustees. The contest resulted in a no-decision draw in favor of the Faculty. ln September 1932, three regular professors returned to Hartford from Europe. Professor Babbitt had spent the past year at the University of Athens in Greece, where he taught classes and studied Greek excavations. Professor Skau of the Chemistry Department 1'eturned from Germany, where for two years he had been coordinating the theory and labora- tory work on pure compounds for a refer- ence book he is compiling. Professor Bis- sonnette of the Biology Department re- turned from England where he had been continuing his studies in conjunction with several other professors on the subject of the effect of light on the sexual cycles of birds and animals. Noisily acclaimed by a Trinity cheer- ing squad who saw him Hoff , the Dean departed for lilngland. This was his second trip to England within the last three years to gather material for his book on Robert Browning. 27

Page 32 text:

The prospects of the 1932 football sea- son assumed a brighter hue with the , appointment of Daniel E. Jcssee as head football coach. Mr. Jessee, after receiv- ing a B.A. from Pacific University, studied for an M.A. in Physical Education at Columbia. Four additional faculty members were added at this time, among whom was Mr. Clarence E. Watters, who assumed the position of organist and choir master. The Trinity College Jesters presented Wings Over Europe , a tragi-comedy by Robert Nichols and Maurice Brown, dur- ing the second week in April. The cast in- cluded twenty characters, all male, and the comedy effect of mincing males in female roles was thus eliminated. In closing their season, the Jesters performed this play in New London at the Connecticut College for Women. Wings over Europe was a very difficult play to perform, but the quality of the performance marked the production as one of the great Jester achievements. The Glee Club made its final appearance of the year in a concert in Alumni Hall. A musical team and several violin and piano solos completed the p1'ogram. Dancing followed. A portion of the report of this program read thus: John F. Martens then presented several violin solos which were immediately followed by the club singing 'The Broken Melody'. The publicized questionnaire held by the Tripod on Wednesday, May 4, was answered by about one half of the student body. Questions on Physical Education requirements, compulsory chapel, chapel speakers, war, and even radios were asked. The results were sufficiently indefinite to be valueless. The Trinity rifle team, some members of which we conjecture voted refusal to bear arms in a future war in the Tripod Poll, defeated the Harvard team in a match at the latter's home range at Arlington, Massachusetts. The track team closed an undefeated season, having broken several of the college records, while the baseball team defeated Wesleyan 7-1. Final exams came and went, commencement week rolled around, and great were the preparations, for the long-awaited consecration of the new Chapel was to take place, and the 106th commencement at Trinity College was to be held in the Chapel. Consecration Day was set for June 18. William G. Mather, '77, donor of the Chapel, presented Dr. Ogilby with the keys to the Chapel as the elaborate and involved processions reached the Chapel door. Bishop Brewster, the Consecrating Bishop, blessed the Chapel and its equipment. Class day exercises were held in Alumni Hall, the address being made by E. Kent Hubbard, president of the Manufacturers' Association of Connecticut. On Monday, June 20, graduation exercises were held. Eighty-five degrees in courses were conferred, twenty-two Bachelor of Arts degrees and sixty-three Bache- 26

Page 34 text:

It was during October and November, 1932 that the Tripod affair took place at college. Because of a misunderstanding between Editor-in-Chief of the Trrfipod and Dr. Ogilby, a forbidden article concerning Lord Cecil was printed in the Trripod. The suspension penalty meted out to the Editor was considered by the country's leading newspapers as a threat to the freedom of the press at Trinity. Work progressed on the Chapel tower, which lacked about fifteen feet of its in- tended height of one hundred and sixty-three feet. The Carillon was fully encased by January, 1933. Landscaping was being improved about the chapel and college grounds, so that with the coming of spring the area about the chapel would be ready to be sown with grass seed. Porter Emerson Brown's The Bad Man , a satirical comedy, was staged by the Jesters on January 14. The plot was complicated and bewildering, and the audience was often uncertain which one was the bad man . Il Circolo Dante, the Trinity College club fostering Italian culture, was formed in the early part of January. The meetings contain discussions about Marco Polo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Boceaccio, St. Francis of Assisi, Garibaldi, Mussolini, Balbo, Al Capone, etc. Judge Buffington, a Trinity graduate, wrote to the Society lauding its aims. He was subsequently elected Honorary Consul of the Club for the year 1933. By a vote of the Trustees, the outdoor Pulpit on the South Side of the Tower was designated as a memorial to Dr. Flavel S. Luther. As Dr. Luther was a great preacher, the pulpit made an appropriate memorial, for it was he who gloried in out- door services. Trinity students and alumni were pleasantly surprised to learn from Dr. Ogil- by's annual report to the Trustees that, in the rating of the American Council of Education at Washington, D. C., Trinity's rating among representative colleges and universities throughout the country rose from sixteenth place to second place be- tween the fall of 1931 and 1932. Yes, it was the 1935 class that arrived at Trinity in the fall of 1931. What has become of the Lemon Squeezer? The spring of 1933 was devoted to the search for that traditional object. It was described in '73 as valuable not for its elaborate workmanship, but for the memories which cluster about it . Its cus- tomary transference from class to class since had been halted and its whe1'eabouts unknown. A revival of the traditional transfer was sought, but the object of the transfer kept its hiding place a secret. The fan-mail which rolled in after the radio debate with Wesleyan gave the decision to the Athenaeum Society's debaters. The question, Resolved: That Democracy is an outworn form of Government, was of timely interest. Trinity upheld the negative side of the question and proved that the fundamentals of Demo- cratic government are far from outworn. 28