University of Chicago - Cap and Gown Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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THE UNIVERSITY YEAR HATS in a name? The University of Chicago is more than a name to intellectual centers of the world, to the worlth scientists and scholars. It is mare than a name to natives of Egypt? Nile: and the nomads of Persiats plateau where the past, unearthed, reveals its wisdom and its errors to the present. It is more than a, name even to the natives of the American provinces whose sweet nothings range from the good Elizabeth Dilling's dictum: That dammt filthy, dirty, communist place ought to be clesed up I to Uncle Charlie Walgrecnk senor- ous judgment; 'tThe University of Chicago is the great- est university in the United States! Behind the name. University of Chicago, lie fnrty-four years of honest pursuit of truth. The pursuit has 0c- casionally been confused; it has sometimes been in er- ror; there has been only recently some interest in learn- ing how to communicate the truth intelligibly. A debilitating skepticism since tllciwar has raised the question whether any truth can be found, andI if found, can be worth while. This skepticism found expression in the reluctance of researchers in certain quarters of the University to go beyond the mere gathering of data, because a fact could be noted and dated and be forever true as of that date. This procedure had many advani tages: it was honest, as far as it went; it was easy; it was the truth-efor an instant of time anyhow. But it re- mained for President Robert M. Hutchins to dennm- strate that the procedure was intellectuallyr reprehensi- ble. It exercised the moral virtue of industry but considered the intellectual virtues of analysis and syn- thesis mere vanity. It left facts, information, data, unrelated to ideas, principles, concepts, Relations be- tween ideas were never stated, even with the care they always should be stated, Propositions were intelligible and true only when dated. The whole skeptical tendency was cripplin to universities. They were afraid of the truth, afrai there was no truth, afraid that if there were, it must be 30 partial as not to be worth stating. This situation is almost 8.5, had as though universities were afraid to communicate what they know to be true. Emergence from. skepticism has just begun and an intellectual historyr of this year, 1935-36 at the University will be a, history of a segment of that emergence. 4' Senate Investigatibn Hearing No. 3, at Hotel LaSalle, May 1935. H Address to Union League Club, May, 1935. WOODCARW'NG III' BILL KING 21