United Colleges - Vox Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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vox 23 Valedictory Address at Grads’ Farewell Arts Department By Allan J. Ryckman Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen—- At the outset I would like to ex¬ tend to the members of the grad¬ uating class, my sincere thanks and deep appreciation for the honor of bidding farewell to the faculty and students of the United Colleges. The many pleasant memories and the varied interests of the members of Class ’31, render it difficult for me to make my few remarks truly representative of their sentiments. Janus-like, we face in two direc¬ tions. Behind lie four years of the college existence of Class ’31, and before us a door opening unto the future. I believe every student, whether he is of the graduating class or not, cherishes fond mem¬ ories of college days, yet is seems that graduation time adds vividness to our many recollections. Some remembrances will linger with us for many years, may even remain with us always, yet some we shall prize above others. Long after de¬ bates and dramatic nights are for¬ gotten, long after track meets and hockey fames have been won and lost, and long after time has dim¬ med our memory of the college din¬ ner, we shall remember the many friends of our college days, the happy associations which our at¬ tendance here has given us. The main purpose of our attend¬ ance here is to obtain knowledge and acquire the power to think, as equipment for a definite purpose in life. To this end, several of our classmates have been worthy schol¬ arship winners. Also the largest Honors Class in the histor y of the institution will graduate with Class ’31. Nor have their efforts been confined to high attainments in literature and science. Students of a college bear cer¬ tain relations to their Alma Mater and fellow students which they cannot afford to put off or neglect. I believe it was Emerson who said, “the studious class are their own victims. They are thin and pale, their feet are cold, their heads are hot, the night is without sleep, the day is a fear of interruption— palor, squalor, hunger and egotism. If you come near them and see what conceits they entertain, they are abstractionists and spend their days and nights in dreaming some dream.” This piece of harsh and denunciatory criticism can in no way be linked with Class ’31 or with any class of the United Col¬ leges, and we are doubly thankful that our student organization is such that no place is provided for the studious class of Mr. Emerson’s description. Each class is expected to contribute to a common college life in which each and .every indi¬ vidual is an interested participant. No great or vivid imagination is necessary to imagine what our col¬ lege would be if it were devoid of all student organizations, the or¬ ganizations which are directly de¬ pendent upon the support accorded them by the students. It is as if each student had a double duty to perform, a duty to himself, and a duty to his fellow students. In every phase of college activ¬ ity, Class ’31 has been represented. To interfaculty teams (track, curl¬ ing, hockey, basketball, football, debating, and dramatics) we hope we have made the contribution righty expected of us. Also we

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22 VOX saying farewell to one of the strongest classes which has ever en¬ tered the halls of our colleges, and we hope that in the years you are together that you will be united as we felt our class to have been. I be¬ lieve that we may boast that our class has been welded into a fel¬ lowship which time will never de¬ stroy. We have a confidence in each other which gives us a guarantee that no matter where we may go, or whatever our problems may be, we will have the support of our class-mates. This gives us courage and strength to go on. We call tonight Graduation Night”—but it might be better if we, like the Universities to the south of us, called it “Commence¬ ment Day.” We have completed our academic work for the present, but the great battle for which we have prepared is still ahead of us. Tonight, as never before, we feel our own inability, and our weak¬ ness as we go out into a world permeated with social, economic and religious unrest. Although the task is going to be difficult, we feel there is a challenge, and that the opportunities for Christian ser¬ vice are greater than ever before. We feel that we are about to pour our small Christian contribution into the great stream of Christian¬ ity which has been purifying the world for 1900 years. We feel that we are adding our little bit to the contribution made by the graduates of these colleges in the past. May we, like them, so invest our lives so as to make this land more Christ-like, and may we, like them, have an unflinching faith in the Great Unseen yet Guiding Hand which is leading the world to bet¬ ter days. . . And so tonight, may I, on be¬ half of the Graduating Class, to our colleges, to our professors and to our fellow-students say fare¬ well. “Did you hear about Bert swal¬ lowing his teaspoon yesterday, Al¬ lan?” No, Wes. How is he now?” Poor fellow. He can’t stir.” Policeman: No fishing allowed here! Charley C.: I’m not fishing. I’m allowing this worm to bathe. Policeman: Let me see the worm. C. C.: Here it is. Policeman: I arrest you for al¬ lowing it to bathe without wear¬ ing a regulation swimming suit. And then there was the guy who was so dumb that he left “pig troughs” while plowing for the convenience of the sowthistles. Clarence S.—Do you believe everything every fool tells you? Mert T.—Oh, no—but some¬ times you do sound so plausible. Motorist—“Is it very far to the next town?” Native— Well, it seems furth- ern’s it is, but it ain’t.”—Free Press. Bob Neil—Do you have any trouble with shall and will? Chas. Avery—No, the wife says you shall, and I say I will. Editor—Do you know how to edit a magazine? Prospect—No! Editor—Well, we ll give you a place on the staff—I guess you’ve had experience.

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24 V O X hope we ha ve accepted our share of the responsibility in student or¬ ganizations, and in all, we have enjoyed the good-fellowship of our associates. To our Faculty we owe much. From that day, when, as awe stricken Freshmen and Freshettes, we were clothed in lowly garb and blinked through faces besmeared with green paint, until today as departing seniors, our professors have guided us along the path to- ards self-realization. They have re¬ vealed to us the great wonders of a great universe. They have told us of the minute atom and the mighty planet. They have taught us the story of the earth. They have told us to acquire a knowledge of the history of the race, pointing out the kings, the princes, the prophets, the scientists, the statesmen, and the adventurers. They have shown us the beauty and power of litera¬ ture. We have learned something of the structure of society, and of the nature of the individual. Our fac¬ ulty have helped us to know our surroundings, and to understand our own being. All this, that we might have a sense of where we are, and find ourselves in the world. A college education does not merely consist of four years spent in collecting facts, but an equal part of education is the power to co-relate the facts we have ac¬ quired. We hope we have realized the power of thought and have learned to prize it well, for we are told it’s flight is infinite. It winds about over so many mountain tops, it flies from star to star, so hangs over both mystery and fact that we may well call it the effort of man to exlpore the home, the infinite palace of his heavenly Fa¬ ther. We have greatly profited from our sojourn here amid friendly surrounding, but now “through the opening door which time un¬ locks, we feel the first breathing of tomorrow creep.” What is past is but the prologue to life, and now we stand upon the threshold of a new day. From the threshold we are about to set out upon the path we have chosen. Whether we fol¬ low the path of literary or political endeavor, whether we elect the path of business or of science, or whether we become teachers of men, we realize that we are debtors to our professions and not merely adornments for them. We realize too, that the way of service is not always through fields of “milk and honey,” but we have this assur¬ ance: that hard service brings pro¬ motion, promotion brings increased responsibility which in turn calls for renewed effort. If, in our various activities, we strive to understand, emphasize the good, protest against error, and transcend the faulty, then Class ’31 will ever remain united, and united with all who seek truth, nor shall we be far removed from our Alma Mater, where we have learned to rejoice in what is good and grieve at the opposite. As we go out, may our ideals and our aims be high. May our hearts be quick to sympathize, and hands be willing to do. May our our minds quick to understand, for it is in the unwilling hand, in the hardened heart, and in the mute conscience that we become vulgar. And now, to all our friends of the United Colleges, Class ’31 says farewell. Farewell—a word that must be and has been, a sound which makes us linger—yet, fare¬ well.