University of Minnesota - Gopher Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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Cyrus B. Norlhrop Maria L. Sanford tht ' re was a love of learning there, and a sympathy and understanding among students and master that was ital, in ' aluable, and beautiful. Hundreds and hun- dreds of Nears have passed and the nations of the world ha e grown. All has changed and become as if niightiK- magnified. Aristotle would be amazed and overwhelmed with exultation to step from the dim ages of the past onto the campus of our modern uni- versit -. He would not deplore the absence of obscure paths and dim glades. His heart would feel joy at the almost unimaginable magnitude of our resources, at the thousands of young men and women who seek eagerly to take them for their own. Hducation has gone a long way since those early days in Greece. It has very nearly approached that ideal of combined ma- terial efficiency and aesthetic perfection that has been in the minds of men from the beginning. Spirit is a term that is used vaguely and with arying connotations. School spirit has gained a meaning through popular usage that is uniformly as- sociated with bonfires and pep-fests, with strident stadium ells at the athletic contest, and with loud and boastful support of one college uncontestably su- preme over all others. But that is a false and a narrow ai)i)licalion of ihi ' word. In the .S|iirit of Min- nesota it forms so small a part. Our spirit is something bigger, more subtle, more sub- jective, more precious. It is a half-realized consciousness of all our liner sensiljilities. When we speak of our spirit we imply a deep respect and lo ' e for otu ' uni ersity, and a sympathy with all the men whose blended personalities have gone into its creation. That is what we mean by Spirit. And its keynotes are Service and Democracy. What was in the minds and the hearts of the founders of Minnesota when they fought for grants and for financial support for the little preparatory college that sprang up in the river- town of St. Anthony while yet the prairies rang with the shout of the redman and the smoke from campfires curled abo e the groves that flanked the shores of the Missis- sippi? What inspired Dr. Folwell, dreaming along in his grim little class room in Old Main, to see in his mind ' s eye broad acres covered with palatial buildings and secret plans for a Greater L ' nix ersity. ' ' It was faith, su- preme faith- — and lo e. These are the in- gredients of service. Service is fundamental in the li es of American university men. Its connotations are broad and inclusive. It is one of those things which are of the blood. W ' hen the Great ar swept the earth with its terrible warning, threatening all ci ilization. Ameri- can uni ersity men were not slow to spring to the defense of all that is most precious in life; llie ' were eager to offer their lives — while }et all hope and all glory and all accomplish- ment lay ahead, phantom figures shining ob- scurely through the blue mists of the future — to save what had been garnered at the cost of such high human endeavor from the har- ' ests of the ages, to preserve what had been realized from the conceptions of ancient Greece and Rome. And Alinnesota did not Characters and personalities are as integral a part of the spirit of a place as are those more intangible associations. At Minnesota there have been and arc a few great personages who have served as inspirations to students and alumni. The memory of tlie.se people, their per- sonalities, are intimately attached to the University. They permeate through the spirit of the place and give it at- mosphere just as do those larger, more general phases. .Such persons as Maria .Sanford, William Watts Folwell, and Cyrus Northrop have given .Minnesota character, background, and distinction. Dr. ' illiam Watts Folwell, .Minnesota ' s grand old man ' Page 26

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1 [HTfuiiu ' (Iriftinj; dnw n ilie years, like an i ' hisi f ri ' fraiii luvinl oiui- aiul novor tdriiotlrii, it tliiats across our coiisriousiK ' ss and loaxcs a memory tlicrc that lingers l ' ore cr. l- ' rom it arc Imni our exalted ambitions and our liii;ii liopc lor a Inturc. c arc denied the power to see, to imderstand, and to appreciate all that is close about us. History is a better tale, more clearly and more sympatlieti- cilK I old, w hen it has lain a hundred ears. Famil- iar names and faces are incomparabU ' dear when they ha e passetl to the mist ' realms of the jxist. And while we are in college we forget, in the zest of lixing, to note the little things that sjieak in whispers to our hearts — the scurr - of dead leaves across a brown, wind-sweiit knoll on a goklen day in autunm, the drone of -oices and the echo of feet down old ImiIwcII ' s marble hall, the contidences of friends, freely taken and freely gi en. It is after we ha e left the campus and college days behind us, when we pass beneath the iron gatewa - no more, that something calls and calls to us with an insis- tence that cannot be denied -calls us back to stand once more in fancy beneatii the old oak trees com- muning softh with the western winds, and thrill with disembodied joy as we watch the sunset ' s mo- mentary scarlet flare go down behind the gothic gray of the Old Libe — something that is the Spirit of Nlinnesota. Long, long ago in sunny Circece, where the dawn of civilization was fairest and ga e brightest promise for a future of unbounded enlightenment and culture, the Uni ersit - had its beginning under the ideal conditions of which we like to dream. .Among the ancient gro -es, beneath a bine, blue sky, the philosopher, the scholar, the master walked and talked through the long southern day with the little band of students who were like thirsty wanderers at the fountain of his wisdom. There were dreams then, and thought communion, and slow meditation, out of which were e -ol -cd the b.isic theories and philosophies of our world. .And When: Minnesola begins — the campus gale To those who have served The beautiful facade and inipoMiig Jtiml ii iin- tuu- Lihtarx Page 25

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fail to riiniisli lu-r share of xouni; nun. ' riu ' - marclu ' d a va ' , huiulri-ds ol llicm. wliilr ilu- school bells I ' liiiH ' d (iciwn hv rmpiy li.ill ,in l life went on heiuMtii the swayini; oak l ee on till ' knoll. It a an inluienl lo e ol ronn- tr ' and a eloser !o e ol sclioni thai sent llu-ni forth from thi ' ranipns. ll was the Spirit ol Minnesota, manilestini; its inni ' r spirit ol ser iee toward all mankind. In the letters that cnmv hack Irom the alumni of Minnesota, gone now in the lour corners of the earth — modern buccaneers that seek their fortimes in cver - oflice in e ery clime — there is one idea expressed, one word that is repeated again .md again -and ili.il word is service. Tlu ' gilts which Minnesota bestows upon lur .--indents are priceless and innumerable. And in return e.ich son and daughter, out of the sincere tondness and gratitude of his heart, pk ' dgcs allegiance to her throughout all the ears that are to come. If he does great things, if he makes mighty achiex ' ements in the world ol the arts, of science, of finance — all must add to the glor of our Alma Mater. With his money, with his knowledge and experience, with the pres- tige which he has gained among men, he works for her ad aiicement and support. That is the spirit of the altminns. The student on the campus toda ' (and it is the same from generation to generation, the today of each generation, I mean) feels this urge to serve, no less strongly. He need not be told what college spirit is. .Not only iloes he root lustily for Minnesota on the field of contest, w hen the maroon and gold stream boldK ' on the autumn breeze. He puts him- self in bondage to build a Greater Minnesota. When other means are lacking, he raises the necessar ' thousands by subscription. By his labor, his pride, and his sacrifices have man cornerstones been laid. He creates honorary societies and strives for high intellectual Old Main — the Viiiversily of the pusi standards; he creates tritnites to his uni crsil . lie puts forth his best efforts always, not alone tor tlu- j A ' of accomplishment, hul i i bring, throngh him- self, glory to all his fellows, tuiited in one luigi- fra- ternity. We like to think ol Miiniesota as a hirge brother- hood, as a fraternity of ten thousand. In the be- ginning, the University was for the favored tew :oidy the extremely wealthy or tlu- extremely talented had an opportunity to walk and converse with the master. But today the I ' nixersity is a broad institution, wel- coming all men ind all women as equally deserving of the learning centered there. They pour in from e er ' highway and byway of life, these students, and form one mingled class with common interests and privileges. I ' ninhibited, there grow u]) those friendh ' and sympathetic relationships which are the choicest things in life. They say that the lTniversit - of Minnesota can ha e no true spirit because it lacks the essential age and background of history and tradition. But spirit is not always a thing born of timi. It may depend not only upon a noble past, but upon a noble future — to which is added all the faith ,ind all the glamour of Iliiloric Northrop field gives way to the new Page 27