University of Toronto - Torontonensis Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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TO THE GRADUATING CLASS OF UNIVERSITY CCLLEGE By Principal Malcolm W. Wallace, B.A., Ph.D. N this last occasion when I shall have an opportunity of addressing you I wish that I were able to speak words of wisdom that would help you to interpret the confused, contemporary world. But unfortunately I have no such wisdom. I do not know any more than you why men are devoting them- selves so whole-heartedly to the task of slaughtering one another. Forty years ago when I graduated from college we assumed that there would be no more great wars, 'and that science and commerce would work out the fulfilment of the gospel of progress. Both of these agents have achieved, on a scale that we could never have guessed at in those far-off days. But they have not enabled us to build the earthly paradise which seemed with- in our grasp--a paradise of security and plenty and opporttmity for all, the defects of which were merely such as would give scope for the exercise of human kindness and in- genuity. Instead, our programme is made up of insecurity, want, hatred, fear and physical and mental suf- fering in unparalleled volume. Why these things have come upon us we can only dimly guess. We feel like men betrayed and are inclined to say that an enemy hath done this, though we know not who he is. The commonest explanation of our dilemma is that which ascribes it to fundamental defects in human character. Men, we say, are greedy, self-indulgent, cruel, they compete for power and then treat their fellows unjustly. These charges are true but is it not equally true to say that under favourable conditions men are generous, altruistic, pitiful, that they delight to co-operate with other men, and to govern themselves by ideals of justice and mercy? I suggest to you that the fatal defect in our human equipment is at least as much intellectual as ethical. Every generation must learn to deiine afresh the concepts by which a healthy society lives. What is justice? What is international morality? How shall we attain to more efficient government? What are the aims, to achieve which we should devote our lives? Only educated, thoughtful men and women can give the tentative answers to these questions on which depends the health of human societies. Every college graduate should be ambitious to make some contribution to the solution of these problems, and to do so you must remain serious students throughout your lives. A small group of friends who meet for periodic discussions can often arrive at greater clarity of -thinking than is possible for any one of them alone. Recently I met a Princeton graduate, no-w a New York banker, who for the last ten years has spent an evening each month with five or six of his former class-mates and a former instructor to discuss some subject from literature or history. These meetings, he insisted, we-re highly significant and valuable events in his life, and I do not find it difficult to accept his estimate. Men are never more truly what men should be than when they try seriously to think more clearly about the necessary adjustments in their so-cial relations. Our present discontents will pass away, and to the historian of a hundred years hence will no doubt seem comparatively simple. May each one of you be able to contribute something toward shortening the period of blind groping, and toward ushering in the day when all men can work gladly and intelligently for the accomplishment of sane, intelligible human ideals!

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1 O55 rt' University College me ' ' I UNIVERSITY COLLEGE 3T9 PERMANENT EXECUTIVE G. M. DENT, President, DORIS BAILEY, Vice-President, Ev:-:LYN BROWN, Secretary, J. R. MINGAY, Treasurer. Message from Class of 3T9 S the academicgyear draws to a close, we of 3T9 greet the future with mixed feelings. We will be happy in the coming years to enjoy the sunshine and beauty of springtime without the reserve which accompanies the exam, complex . At the same time, we will look back on our college years, as we would on our parents, for they have been influential in developing our character, our individuality and our ideals. This year has been notable insofar as an ever-increasing number of under- graduates is taking part in U.C. activities-literary, athletic, social and other- wise. Provision of more adequate sports equipment and of expert coaching has revived interest in U.C. athletics and made us an important factor in the intramural and university athletic world. The series of ,Sunday evening musicales, which was inaugurated this year, proved very successful, and will, we hope, be continued in future years. But the development which possesses the greatest potential significance for our college was the launching of the campaign for a new men's residence, the need for which is imperative. And although the campaign, which is under the auspices of the Alumni Association, has been started in a quiet way, it has been pursued with great energy and success. But though we leave the halls of our college this year, we do not sever our connection. For U.C. has left its mark on each of us. It has been our gateway to life and it has equipped us for the business of living. E171 .-257