University of Western Ontario - Occidentalia Yearbook (London, Ontario Canada)

Page 27 text:

OUR years ago we both came to this university, now you are going out. Good-bye, and good luck. If you have become as fond of the place in these four years as I have, you will be very sorry indeed to leave it. Perhaps, however, you are thinking of next June as a glorious setting-forth rather than as a regretful leave-taking. That is as it should be. In your baggage will be a chaste and dignified roll of parchment, representing, presumably, four years of study and self-discipline, a quantity of miscellaneous facts painfully acquired. Some of these facts may be of use to you later ong whether they are or not does not matter greatly. VVhat does matter is the attitude and temper of mind which their garnering ought to have produced. I hope you have not believed all you were told by your professors. Mr. Shaw, in his preface to The Apple Cari, says: VVe should never accept anything reverently until we have asked it a great many very searching questions. If you want this advice in more compact form, I suggest an even more venerable authority: Prove all thingsg hold fast that which is goodf' You will soon be beginning to prove-the proof of the pudding is in the eating- some of the things you have been taught here. May you find much to which you can hold fast. Out you go, and joy be with your Wayfaringl W. S. MILNE 6' ?

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OU are stepping out from your Alma Mater into a new universe, a new world, new economic conditions, new social conditions, new mental, physical and spiritual life. VVe envy you, we congratulate you and we trust you with your opportunity, the greatest opportunity of all time. We shall follow you with concern, with support, where any word or deed of ours may serve you, and I feel sure with pride in your achievement. There has been much wool-gathering in our minds in the past. Today, fortunately, there is no market for brain-wool. All thinking people are seeking to know life, to know it more abundantly, to know life eternal. May you have your full share in the eternities of life. I hope that many of you will contribute a worthy share to the mental eternities of life. I trust that no one has spent four years here without acquiring a broader mind. Broad-mindedness was at one time defined as an intelligent brain, ready to see the good, and sacrifice, if need be, to attain benefit from opportunity, and to sacrifice pride, if necessary, to serve. If this be not the correct definition of broad-mindedness, it might be well to revive a little old-fashioned narrow-mindedness. At least, be sure, that straight is the way and narrow the gate that leads to the eternities of life, and we wish for you a full share in both the physical and mental eternities. VVhat all the world is seeking is happiness. Happiness is won or lost in the attitude of the inner life. Really happy lives are not made such by abundant possessions, luxury, fame, and the like, but by the following of noble ideals and by the spirit of loving service. I hope that, at the University of VVestern Ontario, you have found happiness and that you can say of your Alma Mater: Hlfor Love, with all the rest, Thou gavest me here, And Love is Heaven's very atmosphere. I hope, too, that you will be ever mindful to make it possible for your Alina Mater to continue to enrich the lives to an ever increasing degree of an ever increasing number of her sons and daughters. RUBY E. C. MASGN, Dean of Women.

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Class History-Arts, '31 ESTERN as we know her, the Western of handsome bridge, stately buildings and glorious site was two or three years of age when, in the autumn of 1927, she was invaded by a swarm of ambitious youngsters, revelling in their new sobriquet Frosh bestowed contemptuously on them by the ubiquitous Sophs and thrilling under the seemingly anachronous dignity of Arts '31. They were a promising lot, with emphasis on the promising, those Frosh,-once the animosities aroused by initiation episodes had subsided, friend and foe joined in acclaim- ing them The Best Yet. Much was expected of their virility and versatility in the long years leading to 1931. Much-perhaps more of those expectations have been realized now that they have bridged the too-short gap between Frosh lnitiation and Graduation. But we are digressing ..... The first coherent memory of Arts '31 after the first ecstasies coincident with registra- tion week-end, with its Freshman banquet, first party in the now familiar Convocation Hall and all the rest, is naturally initiation. And this initiation was of the kind you don't forget! lt began with peremptory orders from the Sophs to replenish our headgear wardrobe at our own expense with coy little purple and white pill-boxes as a mark of our humble state. These were accompanied with a list of humiliating restrictions regarding clothes and general conduct. Arts '31 were rightly indignant and reacted with gusto. After days of guerilla warfare with the Sophs, filled with many glorious episodes of successful Frosh insurrections versus the impositions of the Soph regime, our dignity and optimism was badly jarred as a result of the last of the notorious tar and feather initiations. A dawn attack by the wily Sophs completely defeated our united-we-stand policy. By twos and by threes we joined our brethren like so many trussed chickens in the torture chamber of the Old Barn, where it is added with regret our outward appear- ance was very ingloriously transformed. Such was our introduction to Western! Initiation days past, we fast became an integral, and in time, respected part of the Alma Mater. . n One honour '31 at least lays claim to: hers was the distinction of being the last year to survive the old type of initiation and the honour of establishing the Hag rush, tug-of- war precedents, when the Freshman stage over, it was her pleasure to initiate the new Frosh into the ways of college life. The class started its career with the right foot by choosing as their first President, Ed. Horton. Ed was a popular President and deservedly so. His leadership did much to cultivate and develop the Hesprit de corps of the class. Members of the class lost little time in finding places for their respective talents in the school. Our members made First Teams, took part in dramatics, debating and the like and netted for the year two inter-year Athletic Championships-one in lVlen's Track, the other in Girl's Basketball. And so the Freshman stage ended. The sophomore year saw our ranks slightly depleted but the accession of new mem- bers iilled many of the gaps. This year's president was Bill Trestain. Bill was a con- scientious, energetic president. The sophomore year saw the class settling down in spots to a more serious quest after the elusive lamp of knowledge enlivened by participation in activities of all kinds and the staging of a brilliant Soph Shuffle.