Ursinus College - Ruby Yearbook (Collegeville, PA)

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Innn ihc Address of die President Delit’crvd Soplomlter 17. iQjf). « he Opening ol l ie Sixty srrrnth iulpinU V par E IIO liicl 'iil in this (11«11 ■ f has lived his lew years in an unhappy period ol mcrie iii liislory. I lie growing. prosperous. Iiopelul meriea ol the ear s Indore 11 it ( ireal W.n you liave nol known, 't 011 liave known instead tlie abnormally prosperous ye.irs lli.il lollowed the War. and alter them the dark years ol depression and disorganization and doubt ol the future tli.it we have passed through Iroin 11)2.8 to I liese distressing years through which we have just passed have taught us 1:111 li that is good and iiiik li that is had. ( )ne group ol our people, to put the matter er hrielly. has lost iiiik h ol the good old mcric an spirit ol sturdy veil reliance and high h arted courage. nolher group has learned to esteem economic security as the greatest good that men can enjoy, Both groups have, to a very great extent, lorgottcn certain values in living—have lorgotten the- importance- ol the good Iile ol hard work, sell sacrifice. Iiopelul sell reliance. Both groups have lost much ol an curlier ision. an older faith in spiritual values. nd it is of this unhappy period that you arc the produc Is. and it is in this unhappy period that 011 must live. 'Ion have now come to college with your share ol youlhliil energy, enthusiasm, and hopefulness. 011 have conic with more or less delinile ideas ol what c ollege ■ an do for you. with more or less delinile ideas ol what you intend to do while in college, with more or less delinile ideas of w hat you hope to he in ten ycais. ill twenty years. 'tour parents, your teachers, your friends, your reading have helped you to form these ideas, which, whether good or had. will largely determine your future— your Inline usefulness, ycuu lulure happiness. II these ideas arc wrong, they will do you incalculable harm. II they are sound, they can at least start you in the ri ght direction. It is important. I here fore , to consider very carefully w hat arc tlie real reasons lor coming to college , and what is the real service that the ( ollege can perform in helping eac h one ol ou to develop from the kind ol person vou are lodav into tin- kind of person that vou will he in 1 c c . in i960. What do you expect college to do lor you I )o you expect college to enable you in the inline to lead an eas I ile I lie good physician, the good teacher, the good professional man—whatever his profession—does not lead an easy life . I'm him, long years of hard work are the preparation lor a life ol heaw responsibilities, ol cares and burdens and sac rifices that the layman does not assume. It may be a rich and satisfying lile hut it is not an easy life—not a life for the weak or the inclolent or the sell indulgent. ( hie ol llu- him lions ol the college is let help a student to accpiire the habit of hard, conscientious, thorough work, the habit of undertaking cheerlully a difficult, uninviting task and carrying it through to sue c cssful completion. nd the- college must help the man of ability to learn to c arry more than one man s burden and to regard his responsibilities as a sacred trust. Do you expec I college to inc rease your wage-earning power? ( ollege will probably do that, lint i! you measure success by dollars, you will be unable to measure the worth ol what the college tries to do. I have heard inanv a lather sa that lie- expects college to make a gentleman of his son. 'Irs, the l»o may. it is true, accpiire a surface polish; he may learn to I.ilk better: his manners may be improved. But the real attributes that make a 12

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Dk. Nonman I£. McClure, a graduate ol the ( ollegc in the ( lass ol I I 3. and Professor ol the Pnglish Language and I.iterature since 1C)28. was elect ed president on lone 6. 19)6. I !«• sue eeded I )r. ( «eorge I . ( )m wake, whose resignation became effective on 1111 l. iQ-jf). Dr. Me C lure, together with I )r. Karl I. I lol .knec lit. is the editor ol a three volume edition ol Shakespeare. — U'attamjker—I'ndfrnond 6 Underwood Pkisidint okm.w I.. McCi.um l.lec ted Inin ). !()“ R. DOWIDI.. Ill I I I I KK II. who was IV 1 gr actuated Irom I rsinus in 1021 and Irom ale I .aw Sc hool in 102 |. wa named vie e pres idenl l the- Hoard ol I )irec tors on Inly 2. iqy . Mis duties encompass the- business and financial transactions ol the- ( allege. a res|»onsibilily lor which la- is qualified hy years of experience in executive positions. Vice President Donald I . Heumkicii I Jected July 2. i())6 11

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gentleman imisl Ik his before In goes to college. Simple honesty, honor, tin desire to do i man s work and to do it well, the desire to play fair—all this must he developed at home before a boy enters college. nd. in passing, it max he remarked lli.it I ew hoys go wrong in college who have not been weaklings before entering college; the idle inevitably seek the idle, the vi ions seek the vicious, in college and outside. I )o on e pe« I college to aid you in lile by the acquisition ol new friends and by the opening ol social opportunities—hx making, as the phrase is. helplul con tai Is ? Well, i allege max do that. But. il you are xxorth your s,Jt. you xxill wish to st.nicl on your oxx n h et and xxin your oxx n xx.ix on your oxvn merits, rather than to depend upon the aid ol acquaintances more fortunate socially and economically than you arc . Do you expect college to train you for a vocation I he college is. to a certain extent, a kind ol vocational school. One ol the proper func tions of the college is to provide the preliminary education necessary lor those xvlio plan to enter the so-called learned professions—teaching, the ministry, laxx. medicine. But the primary function of the college—its most important function—is not to make a teac her, a minister, a lawyer, a physician, hut to make a certain kind ol man. a man xvliq knows more ol the liistorx ol mankind than lie finds in the daily paper, a man xx ho is not Inn completely ol the year a man xvlio can sc-e the c hanging present against the bac kground ol the past, a man xvlio has had during his years in college the time and the desire and the ability to become more nr less familiar with the best that has been thought and said in the past, .1 mail xvlio has had more than a nodding acquaintance xxith literature, philosophy, liistorx. a man who. in a xvord. is liberally educated. s-c cfc sj: In the better professional schools the importance ol this kind ol preparation is recognized more .end more . In the good medic .d schools. Ini instance, there i' 1 growing tendency to lax less emphasis on the candidate s preparation in the sciences and more emphasis on a prepai.ition that prox ides breadth, b.ic kground. and pei spectixe. A liberally educated candidate, even xxith a minimum ol science . i likely to become a better physician, a more uselul member of society, and certainly a happiei man. th.m a c andidate xx ho has spec ialized early in his college course, to the exclusion ol the more liberal studies. Liberal culture is not merely lor hours nl leisure. It prepares a man lor much more . Il is essentially a search lor standards of exc crllenc e. lor standards of straight thinking, lor the enjoyment ol beauty , for good and xxisc lixing. hi short, il prepares a man to live sanely in a xxorlcl th.it seems lar Irom sane. A graduate ol IVsinus ( ollege. then.—learned what the ( ollege has tried to help him learn—is not merely prepared to earn his lix ing or to enter 1 professional school or to spend his leisure well, lie has learned to appreciate excellence in men and in ideas, to recognize genuine superiority xvherever it appears. Me has learned to study the mob. and to sympathize xxith it. but not to lolloxx it. I le has learned to work hard and const ienliously toxvard a distant goal. I le does not measure success by dollars, lie is qualified and xxilling to assume more than one mail s burden. I lie responsibilities that arc his bec ause ol his ability and training lie considers as a sac red (rust. I le has learned to bring into his oxx n lib the grace and heautv and sanity that liberal education can bring. And he has the lear ol the Lord, xx liich is the beginning of xvisdom. I rsinus ( ollege exists to dexclop this txpe ol man. this lx pc ol woman. In help you in all possible xvays toxvard this goal is the duly ol our l acultx. and to the performance ol this duty xxe pledge ourselves. IS