United Colleges - Vox Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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vox 25 TOCTOiRS OF MVMHTY (Honoris Causa) Reverend F. W. Kerr, D.D. In presenting Rev. F. W. Kerr for the D.D. degree at Manitoba College Con vocation on April 9th, Rev. Dr. C. W. Gordon stressed the fact that he was born in Zorra. “Strong men came from Zorra,” Dr. Gordon declared. “That’s where Samson was born.” After public school in the small village of Shakespeare, Ontario, and after High School in Wood- stock and St. Mary’s, Fred Kerr, as a young man of nineteen, came out to Western Canada. For two years he taught school in Edmonton, after which he came to Manitoba College, graduating in 1905. Then followed three years in Knox Col¬ lege, Toronto, from which he graduated with the travelling scholarship in 1908. This scholar¬ ship provided him with the oppor¬ tunity of post-graduate study in the United Free Church College of Glasgow, the University of Mar¬ burg in Germany and the Univers¬ ity of Chicago. After his ordination, Mr. Kerr spent two years among railway construction men in the mountains of British Columbia, and four years in Prince Rupert before the railway had reached that port. After five years in New Westmins¬ ter, he accepted an appointment as Professor of Religious Education in Manitoba College, arriving in Winnipeg on the first day of Feb¬ ruary, 1920. In addition to the work of his chair, Prof. Kerr at once began a wide range of activ¬ ities, including evening classes, summer schools, teacher-training classes, afternoon mission-study groups, and built up a large cor¬ respondence class for post-graduate study. For several years two Bel¬ fast and two Australian ministers were enrolled in this class, as well as ministers from every province of Canada, and from half a dozen states of the Union. For six years Prof. Kerr carried both the preach¬ ing and pastoral work of Knox Church, as well as continuing his lectures (without financial remun¬ eration) in Manitoba College. About a year ago he relinquished his college work in order to devote his entire energies to the work of the ministry. Dr. Gordon stressed Prof. Kerr’s ministry to young folks, stating that probably the largest week-day study-groups of young people in the Dominion are now found in Knox Church. Seven years ago, Knox Church was regarded as being in a precarious position, ow¬ ing to its very large mortgage in¬ debtedness of practically a hundred thousand dollars, and owing to

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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.

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26 VOX the fact that it was becoming in¬ creasingly shut off in a down-town area, cut off from the residential districts. In spite of that fact, however, the mortgage has been steadily reduced, and upon the cele¬ bration of their diamond jubilee in March, 1932, the congregation in¬ tends to burn it. At the same time, every year has shown increased missionary contributions over the previous year. Prof. Kerr has always taken his full share of wider activities. He contributes articles more or less regularly to several magazines. In 1924 he spent six weeks in Geneva in the study of international rela¬ tions, and upon his return deliver¬ ed over a hundred addresses on that subject. He has been an active member of the Rotary Club and this year holds the position of President of the Winnipeg Cana¬ dian Club. Perhaps to the rank and file in Western Canada his most important work is his weekly half-hour over the radio as “Uncle Fred.” A FEW ARTESIAN ARTIFICES No, you don’t want slap stick comedy. You don ' t want comedy caused by physical incongruity. And then there is also that sub¬ tle plus. Mr. Clay, you amaze me with your knowledge of femininity. Go south, young man, go south. One other thing I want to toss at you before the bell catches us. It’s a matter of individual con¬ stitution : for I know some of you can pack all this away without taking notes. She’s the sauciety dame. You might earmark the nickels between now and April to get to see this play. Marginal platitudes (superced¬ ing this year, it would seem, “mar¬ ginal gloss”). Angry Parent—Why were you kissing my daughter in that dark corner last night? Doug. R.—Now that I’ve seen her in daylight, I sort of wonder myself. THESE FROM GEOLOGY And they are going to use some of that stone on the new Univer¬ sity buildings, I think. You may be old enough to see it some day. At examination time, especially in the spring, the examiners need an amount of co-operation from the students to shove them through. AND FROM HISTORY Mazzini talked the idea of na¬ tionalism loud and long, and talked it fervently. Old Tom Carlyle had been preaching—. (Referring to one of the Powers’ agreements with Turkey) It was one of the finest pieces of window dressing ever—and when the Con¬ ference shut up shop, the Sultan’s full dress Parliament just naturally dissolved. A FEW YEARS HENCE Little Barney (calling father on telephone)—Hello, who is this? Big Barney (recognizing son’s voice)—The smartest man in the world. B. Junior—Pardon me, I got the wrong number.