University of North Texas - Yucca Yearbook (Denton, TX)

Page 8 text:

J Zz Center of MtMty At the beginning of the Golden Fifties, North Texas embarked on a tremendous program of physical expansion and change to satisfy the demands made upon it by mushroom growth in enrollment. We are now the third largest state college in Texas with a student body of 7,500, and annual increases are anticipated. Material improvement is good, of course; but as history has told us, progress is impossible when we become so involved in grandeur and growth that we lose sight of our purpose. And the purpose of any institution of higher learning is first of all to impart to each individual a sound knowledge of human achievement and then to inspire in him some vision of what man may yet do and be. Knowledge can be achieved through the various curricula offered by a college. At NT stu- dents may prepare for teaching, business, commercial art, food preparation, scientific research, journalism, music, radio, and other vocational work. Pre-professional courses are offered to students in dentistry, law, medicine, pharmacy, medi- cal technology, engineering, and veterinary medicine. And while these students prepare to spend the major efforts of their lives in specialized areas, the college proposes to cultivate in them a liberal mind capable of conceiving and developing latent possibilities of the human creature. Special programs contribute to this development also. Philosophy courses, which four years ago were offered infrequently and usually through other departments, today at- tract about 300 students to eight classes offered during the year. The English department seven years ago was staffed by 30 members, but now requires 46 and is generally regarded as one of the most challenging in Texas. The School of Music is nationally praised. Not all knowledge can be learned from books and classroom instruction, for extracurricular campus activities and as- sociations, perhaps even more easily than curricular ones, stimulate exchange of ideas with other students and with instructors, and when these exchanges cease to be important on a college campus, then the student body becomes apathetic and educational activity is retarded. The spirit of both teacher and learner grows cold and slow. No coldness or slowness has been apparent here in the school year 1960-61. On the other hand, this year has been one of new and vigorous activity. More students have attended fine arts programs than ever before. When Poet John Ciardi came to the campus, many students had to be turned away for lack of auditorium space. Tickets for student productions were generally sold out for almost every performance. Classroom and UB atmosphere took on the sobriety of work. This being an election year, the exciting maze that politics is manifested itself on the campus. The Young Democrats and the Young Republicans carried out an excep tionally vigorous campaign and played hosts to such politicos as Ken- nedy ' s clan, and John Tower. The Chat covered the entire campaign through the capable reporting of David Yates. In local politics, the Independent Students ' Organization sprang up to capture 20 USNT offices and class posts in its first year of activity. Campaigning was enthusiastic — and the ISO became a vital force in campus politics as it sought to get wider student representation in student government. The Talons, a service organization composed of outstanding men at NT, was organized; the Yucca Beauty Selection become an all-school affair for the first time. And so on and on. Twenty years from now when you pick up the 1960-61 Yucca, we hope that it will bring back memories of a busy, profitable, and exciting year at NT. We have attempted to present it in 528 pages of print and pictures. Good reading. Good looking.

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FIGURINES of characters in the Canterbury Tales spur the imagination as student wanders in Chaucer ' s medieval gallery. ' PX ' O biology students draw blood from a guinea pig in an experiment which they hope may yield knowledge that will lessen future human discomfort. X ' ORLDS of adxenture can be explored through reading, and these children learn early the process of checking out books. AN ART student points out the intricate Ifnes of this abstract design to a visitor at one of the several exhibitions put on by art classes. f -