University of Massachusetts Amherst - Index Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

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SEPUMBER Cars, people. l)ag.s, hooks, l)oxes, and baggage — September liad ar- rived and the Amherst invasion was on. Morning mists, golden at ' ter- noons, and everything to begin anew. A two-day early arrival gave the freshmen a chance to get accjuaint- ed and find their way around be- fore the upperclassmen came. A convocation, a test, a play day, and two dances — college had be- gun. This year all 11 40 of the fresh- men had been pre-registered so that this traditional ordeal was now a joy — well, almost. Right oflF, the effervescent spirit of freshmanism was evoked in something new this year, an inter- Tlie first buck is the hardest. [15

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Joe Lucier, thus symbolizing the continuance of traditions and of duties. True to the Mettawampe spirit the class gripes were aired, the hatchet was buried and the peacepipe took its place. The class ode, oration and song, the dedica- tion and planting of the ivy, and the Roister Doister play all com- pleted the evening. June 7. The final day. A morn- ing Baccalaureate and in the after- noon, graduation. Empty seats were left in the rain on the library lawn and once again the Cage be- came Graduation Hall. Sadness and gladness; mounting tension; martial music; a speech by poet David Morton; diplomas; music; the end. 14

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dorm sing and skit competition. Thatcher won the sings and Butter- field the skits. UlNI ' s expansion program was continued, and many things were new: a school of nursing, a music department, and a speech -and - drama major. The faculty got new members; the band got new uni- forms; and the campus cops got a new cruiser. Mills and Butterfield were given back to the boys, and the girls moved down into the valley. Two new women ' s dorms were opened. Leach House for upperclassmen and Crabtree House for freshmen. Dignity and simplicity charac- terized the opening convocation at which Provost Mather ad- dressed the students and faculty. He asked for university members with an outlook as expansive as the horizon around them. He also pledged himself, as so should we all, to look to the future of our school, keeping in mind a realistic understanding of its avowed pur- pose as a state university. Fall sports — the teams, the band, the cheerleaders, and the drill team, everyone worked to get ready for a new season. Summer weather lingered on, but summer ' s dreamy ease had ended. A new chapter of life had been begun and was now to be lived. 16