University of the South - Cap and Gown Yearbook (Sewanee, TN)

Page 30 text:

he expects to enjoy. On the other hand, the Gownsman accords to the younger and less experienced Junior that good-natured, patronizing tolerance which one is accustomed to bestow on an admiring small brother. After all, he never seems to be very far removed from the days of his own juniority. On the division of the second classification, which obtains among any body of students, but little need be said. Every university and college has its athletes, its burners of the midnight oil, and a third set which belongs to neither of these, but tries very hard to usurp a place among the latter. In Sewanee, as is natural, each class has its followers, but fortunately the numbers of the last named are appreciably in the minority. The lives of the athlete and of the hard-working student explain themselves. That of the former, figuratively speaking, is one continual round of beer and skittles, regulated b} ' healthy athletic training. His parents are not troubled with thoughts of his breaking down through excess of study. Although to all outward appearances per- fectly healthy, yet early morning headaches, before and after dinner stomach troubles necessitate his frequent absence from chapel and class. Resolutions made by him to brace up and do some work are received by his friends with a sarcastic and skeptical smile. His inclination for mental refreshment is lacking in the same degree as the athletic abilities of his hard-working brother. The exemplary student, on the other hand, is one big bundle of virtues. He is never sick. Noth- ing short of complete destruction to the building would prevent his attendance in the class room. No ailment less serious than Bright ' s disease would prevail upon him to neglect preparation of his classes. He follows up a Greek root with as much eagerness as the athlete studies a new wrinkle in ' ' tackling. ' ' Each feels a contempt for the other, and both are satisfied with their respective accomplishments. The one deserving less attention, but demanding more, owing to the twofold nature of his char- acter, is the would-be-considered-studious individual. He desires to be thought a hard student, and to become a profound scholar, and will do any thing, save buckle down to work, to satisfy these ambi- tions. He makes elaborate preparations for study, reduces his work to a perfect system, which fails in the application only because it is unsystematic. But the gilt finish soon disappears from the new plaything; the books are not so interesting as outward appearance would lead to suppose; the pipe mmouM makes him sick, and the whole thing becomes a deuce of a nuisance, anyhow. ' the pretense is abandoned, to be renewed at irregular intervals. But however shallow and frivolous the conceits and prejudices of the outward and visible may seem, underneath it all burns the steady flame of Sewanee spirit, unnoticeable, perhaps, when the mind is occupied with affairs of only individual concern, but assuming volcanic proportions on any occasion in which the interest of the University is involved. A common love for the University unites all classes. The Gownsman and the Junior, the athlete, the student and the would-be join together as a harmonious whole in deploring her misfortunes, and in singing a heartfelt hallelujah at each and every success. The presence of such a spirit has done much in the past for the reputation of the University, and the first signs of its absence will sound the warning note in a never-ending period of decline. So for a while

Page 29 text:

06 The thinks-he-knows-a-few-things Junior, and the sure-he-knows-it- all Gownsman, from time immemorial have been the target of definition- framers, but so far absolute success has not crowned their efforts. This hesitancy permanently to adopt the definition of any one of the truth- seekers does not imply a lack of mental acuteness on their part, but only testifies to the monumental nature of the task. And it is only a sense of assured future consolation, derived from the knowledge of fail- ures of illustrious predecessors, that encourages any one to make a trial. Both Gownsman and Junior regards his rights and privileges as limit- less, and to encompass them in a few concise and comprehensive phrases requires highly developed powers of discrimination. The name of Gownsman is applied to one who, in consideration of age and mental accomplishments — shorthand, typewriting and book- keeping excepted — is invested with the privilege of donning the scholastic Cap and Gown — material and proportions of same not regulated by official legislation — to occupy a seat in the Squabs ' nest, with a view of ultimate promotion to the Synagogue, and, owing to the length of the gown, to wear with impunity Academic breeches — trousers with certain parts in the last stages of dissolution. To define the Junior involves even greater difficulties. His claim on consideration, although universally acknowledged, possesses no salient features such as distinguishes the Gownsman. Throughout this body there are unmistakable signs of a strong esprit de corps, which, reinforced by a great, though subservient, individual self-satisfaction, pro- duces an unusual solidarity of the whole. The belief in self of the members of this younger and less enlightened — not unenlightened — class is only exceeded hx a vene- ration for the whole. A suitable motto, which the Juniors are at liberty to adopt if they see fit, is contained in the reversal of a certain metaphysical doctrine — The Many and the One. The following definition of the Junior has been evolved at the expense of years spent in observation and study of the species: A self-confident and slightly verdant person of tender years, with pinky-white and downy accompaniments, having a decided leaning — not liking — towards most things considered wicked, and an avowed worshipper of Venus and Bacchus, while the dust accumulated in the last game of marbles still lingers around the trouser knee, and the memory of the last spanking altogether too vivid to be treated lightly. References of more or less accuracy in support of the above statement will be furnished on application. The relations between the orders of Juniors and Gownsmen are devoid of that pronounced prejudice common to college factions. The Junior respects the Gowns- man with that respect which is born of close relationship. Some day — August the year after the rear and right half of the quadrangle are completed — he expects to become one of them. In the meantime he shows them that respect which in turn Minima

Page 31 text:

ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT W. P. TRENT, M. A., Dean POST GRADUATES Samuel Cary Beckwith, B. A. . . Petersburg, Va. Reynold Marvin Kirby-SmiTh, M. D., Sewanee, Term. GOWNSMEN Francis Willis Ambler . John Beean Robert Benedict .... William Breithaupt Benjamin Alexander Galpin Blacklock Percy Brown James Montgomery Crank . Edward Ellerbe Cobbs . Charles Blayney Colmore . George Clifton Edwards . William Mercer Green, Jr. Frederick Harriman Harding Frederic Gray Hebbard William Henderson, Jr. Telfair Hodgson .... Richard Wallace Hogue William Hammond Hurter Mercer Green Johnston Warner Douglas Matthews Atlanta, Ga. Sewanee, Tenu. Ft. Meade, Fla. Illawara, La. Cleveland, Tenn. Spring Hill, Tenn. . Houston, Tex. Montgomery, Ala. Sewanee, Tenn. Dallas, Tex. Sewanee, Tenn. Washington, N.C. New York, N. Y. New Orleans, La. Sewanee, Tenn. Marion. Ala. Montgomery, Ala. San Antonio, Tex. . Jacksonville, Fla. Robert Franklin McMillan Conesus Centre, N. Y. Howard Lord Morehouse . . . Milwaukee, Wis. Thomas Pasteur Noe Beaufort, N. C. George Freeland Peter . . Georgetown, D. C. William Carrigan Pickens . . Greensboro, Ala. Roland Jones Pickett .... Shreveport, La. Charles CotesworTh Pinckney . Charleston, S. C. Howard Sank RislEY . . . Georgetown, S. C. Richard Sanford Rust, Jr. ... Atlanta, Ga. Henry GoldThwaiTE SeibELS . . Montgomery, Ala. John Armistead Selden . . . Sewanee, Tenu. Jose Martin Selden Sewanee, Tenn. Francis E. Shoup Sewanee, Tenn. Sidney Bertrand Smith . . . Roekvale, Tenn. Harold Thomas Columbia, S. C. Oscar Noel Torian Evansville, Ind. Gardiner Leigh Tucker Mobile, Ala. Prentiss Tucker Mobile, Ala. Luther George Hallam Williams . . Maeon, Ga. Samuel Alston Wragg St. Louis, Mo. Arthur Rutledge Young . . . Charleston, S. C. JUNIORS John Brooks Allen Frederick Sprague Averill William McCaslan Barnwell Henry Pinckney Benedict Harbert Wilson Benjamin Austin Thomas Branch . Robert Irvine Branch . Thompson Buchanan . Springfield, 111. Port Royal, S. C. Abbeville, S. C. Ft. Meade, Fla. . Illawara, La. Augusta, Ga. Augusta, Ga. Crescent Hill, Ky. James Armitage Bull Pensacola, Fla. William Allison BunTin . . . Nashville, Tenn. Godfrey William Radclyffe Cadman, Narcoosee,Fla. Hart Carnahan San Antonio, Tex. John Zimmerman Cleveland . Spartanburg, S. C. William Addison Cobbs .... Greensboro, Ala. Emmett Craig New Orleans, La. Lionel Henry Colmore .... Sewanee, Tenn. 23