University of Rhode Island - Renaissance / Grist Yearbook (Kingston, RI)

Page 9 text:

The Class of i960 proudly dedicates this book, our four year college memoirs, to William Mitchell Hawkins Beck, Jr., a man of infinite vitality, leadership and hu- man understanding. It has been said that human activity is a mirror which gives back accurate images of men. The activity of this man in the spiritual, intellectual and athletic facets of human life have endowed the environment of the University with a priceless heritage. His unselfish efforts for twenty six years on the URI faculty helped guide thou- sands of young Americans, that were privileged to have Kirn as an instructor, a coach, or a friend. Indeed it is an honor to have had such an honorable and respected man guiding our school athletic teams and those who knew him and worked with him can al- ready see the void left by his retirement. His determination, courage, and desire to win that he instilled in all his players made them and the University more rich. He is a man that gave much to URI, its students and its athletic teams, and in doing so wrote an incomparable chapter into the school’s history. To you Billy Beck, do we make this humble gesture in dedicating the i960 Grist, for your loyal devotion to URI and the character and personality that your name will mirror always as part of the University of Rhode Island. 5

Page 8 text:

PETER J. MINIATI Editor-in-Chicf 1960 GRIST STAFF Managing Editor Sr. Managing Editor Jr. Business Manager Features Activities Senior Pictures Women’s Residence Men’s Residence Copy Art Circulation Men’s Sports Women’s Sports Advertising Photography Secretary Austin O’Toole Herbert Jacobson Joseph Giordano Robert Terranova Marie Campopiano Milton Steen Beverly Johnson Robert McCauley Edwin Wiley Mickey Kane Art Klonsky Warren Ferriter Loretta Santagata Edward Sanders Mike Traficanti Lyne Karmel

Page 10 text:

On being told, four years ago, that the Class of i960 had chosen me to be its academic adviser, I felt an awe- some burden descend upon me: I envisioned myself handing out, Solomon-like, counsel and solace to an end- less number of you afflicted with psychic, amatory, gastric, academic, and heavens knows what other prob- lems of overwhelming dimensions. Such a task would require superhuman resources of mind and heart, and why then, I wondered, had you chosen one so obviously unequipped and green that he still has trouble differen- tiating himself from the Freshman. For we came to this University together. But it occurs to me now that half- consciously you may have selected a faculty member who appeared as bewildered as yourselves. Since then, of course, we have all become older and wiser. But perhaps the bargain has been too one-sided in that I learned from you and your sober spirit of in- dependence, whereas you have merely had your class funds protected against embezzlement, if not against foolish expenditures. On the other hand, there may be a certain symbolic significance in the fact that you now go forth into the world prepared to leave your indelible mark on it, while I stay behind. How then should I pre- sume to add my Parthian shot of say advice to those that will inevitably be inflicted upon you, so that, bearing the ritual scars—milder than those of a former age—, you can be released into the great outdoors? But since your kind editor has given me permission, I cannot re- sist the impulse to fire off at least a parting volley. Kven so, it is in the form of a hope rather than an in- junction: may the University have provi ded you nor only with the skills and knowledge needed to part- icipate in the solemn ritual of adult existence, but also with that true expansion of the intellect and imagina- tion which has been envisaged as the final goal of a university education. I do not even think— oh heresy ! that it matters so much whether in later life you are happy or not: only preserve the magnanimity, largeness of spirit and outlook, which is the mark of the truly ed- ucated. Remember, as one wise New Englander put it, that man’s capacities have never been measured. With that sense of the endless possibilities of human existence, we can engage in life joyously: without it we fail our- selves and the society around us. But pretense to wisdom, as Socrates said, is the worst of follies, though he was also the first to see that we begin to be wise when we realize our own foolishness. Therfore, go forth prudently, magnanimously, but do not hesitate to be at times just a little foolish, With the very best wishes of your ‘Class Adviser’ Dr. Richard T. Neuse 6