Virginia Polytechnic Institute - Bugle Yearbook (Blacksburg, VA)

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Y, , 1-v v v- A THE P U 'f , seize O, maid of these tragic days What 'vision do you see? Is it a peaceful world Or one wrung with agony? America must hold the torch To light this world aright. Let service be our watchword But eye-r in God's sight. I f you have faith And will to us that faith impart, Then ours the courage and the strength Ours the boldness and the lion-heart. n One sponsor, dedicated This Holy Cause to serve Well knows the men of V. P. I. From Duty ne'er will swerve.

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Dr. Newman immediately became a leader in the activities of the Institute, and his persistent and highly intelligent effort has been a notable factor in its advance- ment to a higher plane of usefulness. To him, in particular, must be accorded a large share of the credit due to the faculty of the Institute for its wise and progressive step in raising the entrance requirements to a standard better befitting its dignity as an institution of learning. Under his guidance, too, the Literary Societies have received a new and vigorous impetus forward, while his work on the various Institute committees, including those affecting student activities--athletic, literary, religious- has been of the highest value. ' Like all men whose aim is as close to perfection as possible, Dr. Newman takes advantage of every opportunity for self-culture, and to this end has spent several vacations in study and travel in Europe. And while he is a constant and efiicient student of his specialty, he divides his time between it and other pursuits of a popular and scientific interest. Thus, by close and intelligent application to his work, he has risen steadily to the position which he now fills so acceptably-the Professorship of English and the Deanship of the Academic Department. Altho the routine duties attaching to the positions which Dr. Newman has succes- sively filled since coming to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute have never been light -frequently, indeed, quite the contrary-he has, notwithstanding, found time to edit in a most scholarly and delightful manner the Essays of De Quincey and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. He has also contributed frequently to some of the current literary magazines and to the Library of Southern Literature. As a writer, Dr. Newman has command of a most excellent and charming style- lucid, succinct, direct, a style abounding in the niceties and idioms of a language prodigally rich in bothg a style, withal, resulting evidently from a vigorous and prolonged discipline in the ancient classics, and from an intimate and appreciative acquaintance with the best in modern literature. If thought is the gold, style is the stamp that makes it current and says under what king it was issued, is a felicitous statement of a truth manifestly much taken to heart by Dr. Newman, since not only is the style of what he writes all that has been so inadequately indicated above, but the thought that pervades and dominates it is always clearly his chief concern 5 the style being merely a vehicle for its proper and pleasing conveyance. But it is, perhaps, as a speaker, rather than as a writer, that Dr. Newman makes best and most pleasing use of our language. A good voice, absolute freedom from platform mannerisms, a nice and judicious choice of words, a searching and acute analysis, a straightforwardness, and a downright logical coherency combine to lend to his speech the quality of genuine eloquence. It is not surprising, therefore, that he is much sought after as a public speaker, and is always heard with pleasure, and never with less of profit than of pleasure. But, after all, W01'tlL 'makes the man, omol the lack of it the fellow, All the rest is but leather and prunellafl And so to say merely that Dr. Newman is an accomplished writer, a thoroly competent and popular teacher, and an eloquent speaker, is to leave unsaid the better part of what must and does impress all who come into contact with him, in whatever relation of life. Not only is he all of these, but, what is far more important and praiseworthy, he is a loyal and patriotic citizen, an irreproachable husband, a self-sacrificing father, and a true friend. To merit higher praise were impossible, to bestow it, equally so. - ii - - Qi,i,i.i,E 7

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- ,5,EiC i5 U Q U 7 'THE , M fd- UQLE 1 MISS BROWN Sponsor for The Bugle, Q