Wake Forest University - Howler Yearbook (Winston Salem, NC)

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velop his values because, while thinking makes actions responsible, only values make actions honest and rele- vant. These values, however, must be self-conceived to be truly believed in. not inhaled from a sermon to be desecrated. A life of involved action — whether as a housewife, an athlete, a businessman, a teacher, as politician or a father — must be responsible and relevant to be meaningful. College is not just the training for this involved life; college is a segment of this life. A year of this experience produces a change, a change in the student and in society, and these changes in attitudes and values interact. They interact to bring progress, cooperation, protest, emotional conflicts and the ecstasy of genuine communication. This interaction occurs in everyday life when one involves himself in his world by sharing himself with other people and dedicating himself to his work. Ideally, the most concentrated scene of this involve- ment is the college campus. Ordinarily this setting is heterogeneous enough to inspire a wide breadth of so- cial and individual experimentation and criticism. At the same time, it is remote enough for the control and study of man ' s attempt to determine himself and his world. This rose-colored, laboratory view of the campus may be somewhat unfortunate, however, because if it

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College is not merely the training for life; it is life itself A student at some time asks himself whether he really wants an education, and if so, why does he? He then asks himself what the purpose of an education should be, and because he must look at what is and not just what should be, he asks himself what his education is doing for him, but more important, how much of his education is his own responsibility. People and the times dictate the needs of education; they take from the basic core of knowledge that which they can best use and which they can best expand upon and increase the understanding of. The creativity and inspiration of people become the bounds of an educa- tional system. The reason for education and the commitments of education must be displayed so as to motivate people to learn for the pure excitement and satisfaction of ex- ploiting experience — for the joy of learning. Education is a process of socialization and acculturation, but more significantly, it is a process of learning to think and to have a sensitive and creative awareness of culture and nature. This kind of sensitivity and creativity is the commitment to necessary innovation and change, and to self-fulfillment and amusement. In its harvest lies the ability to relate knowledge to life and times, and to have compassion and empathy in the knowledge that one must recognize and work within and with the com- plexity of our existing world. Education should free man to make all of life a learning experience. Modern technology brings man an abundance of lei- sure time for relaxation and enjoyment. Yet some frustrated people are bored with life. Education, if thoughtfully administered and absorbed, should give a person an appreciation for his world to more than fill his leisure time and to bolster the way to a vital and happy existence. Out of the mass of technology, capitalism, democ- racy, mass communication and population growth and mobility come the pluralistic values and conditions of our society. Education should enable a person not only to solve the problem of his plurality, but also to rec- ognize and define the problems that face and confound our freedom. While making a man free to learn, educa- tion should concurrently make him free to live, that is to take up the business of working and enjoying, as well as learning. For only if man is educated is he free to think and choose; ignorance shackles him and sacri- fices him to fate. There is one other comm itment which an education must transmit. That is the commitment to values. The process of education must invite the student to de- , — ■ mm - »„ T — m » m .-.i — I..II.I - —

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Education should give a person an appreciation for his world to more than fill his leisure time. is too isolated it cannot be either the inspiration or the testing ground for these ideas. The school must inter- act with its world. Regardless of the actions of the most socially in- volved administration and faculty, it takes a truly in- terested student body to create an atmosphere which transcends the confines of the school. Only then does education today reach the student and the world. But where is Wake Forest in this grand scheme? Out- wardly, Wake Forest exists in its red brick and white columns and a concrete kind of sculpture. The railings still say WFC and the same light posts form parallel rows with the trees. And Reynolda Gardens is an escape any time of the year. There are the cells which they call boys ' dorm rooms, and the big lecture rooms with immovable desks. And alongside these there are the comfortable quiet of the rare book room, the privacy of Davis Chapel, the swings to play on, the holly trees and the old desks with their curious scratches. These are all part of a picture we see every day and they frame a life here. But it is people who make Wake Forest; they make it for themselves and others. They come to find what they want, and if they find it here, that is good, if they do not. then they make what they want or they leave. The facilities, the books, and the activities and suggestions are here, but it is up to these people to make their own challenge and their own edu- cation. Students and faculty and administrators, friends and strangers, the apathetic and the caring, these are the faces and minds that mold the philosophy and tradi- tions of Wake Forest. To engage these people and this school there is a community and a world demanding attention. The Winston-Salem community of Stratford Road homes and East Winston challenges Wake Forest. The Urban Institute, the Speech Institute and the Ecumenical In- stitute all grow from the University ' s desire to actively confront its community. In turn there is a dynamic in- teraction between the student and his community, on an individual basis. In a developing awareness of the plea for universities to contribute to the communities which support them, Wake Forest students operated the Patterson Avenue Mission, volunteered as aides at the Graylyn Child Guidance Clinic and raised money for food for Biafra. Of course, at National Election time students and professors alike campaigned for local and national candidates. Nixon even won the mock election this year — the first time that Wake Forest has ever picked a winner. All the accusations in the student demonstrations and in the newspapers are well-founded unless schools and students alike challenge the incon- sistencies and injustices of our world. Expression of this social consciousness, however, is only a manifestation of the basic lessons of college life. These rather intangible lessons are the insights into alternative solutions to problems and the values and the sensations that a student gleans from his world of classes, entertainment and friends. In some classes, for instance, a student may have that true learning experience which lasts for only a few minutes. That is, he may suddenly see a relationship