Washington and Lee University - Calyx Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

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Change of Class on the Colonnade. proaches lies a transcendent purpose, that is, to improve man and the places in which he lives. It soon became evident that there must be a systematic method by which to communicate the knowledge of the past to the present, for the benefit of the future. This method is education. Although much of the educative process is creative, there is, never- theless, a building on the archives of the past. These collected thoughts of the scholars of antiquity are not limiting in their nature, but rather serve to direct the thoughts along known channels. Early investigations of thought provide the foundations on which modern conjecture must rest. It is here that the vital role of the University appears. In taking the great ideas of the past, interpreting them, and building upon them, the security of the future is, in part, assured. There must, however, be a highly selective process of deleting that which has little value and utiliz- ing that which has great value. Washington and Lee is one of hundreds of institutions striving for J

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purpose The statement man as a rational being has often prefaced sundry remarks and descriptions of the human race. Logically speaking, this well-worn phrase is very signifi- cant as it illuminates the salient difference between the homo sapiens and all other forms of animal life. Moreover, as man is a thinking being, it suggests a very profound and possibly dangerous adjunct of his existence. That is, he has the power to direct his course as regards himself and his relations with others. To the extent that these relations are car- ried forth in a harmonious manner, his power has, and will, reach its highest fruition. But to the extent that mental energy is spent in solveniy, selfish, and unproductive activit- ies, the great benefit of the mind is circumvented and its presence is to no good avail. For better or for worse, then, man has recorded a history of thought. He has built civilizations and he has destroyed them, hie has made peace and declared war. He has risen to the heights of moral attainment and has fallen to the depths of decadence. Whether these actions have been lauded or condemned, they are all products of the mind. As is true with all else, some men have been blessed with better or more active mental powers than others. To these has fallen the heavy responsibility of recording history, analyzing its results and proposing theories as to its eventual outcome. Others have theorized on utopias of both political and economic nature. But above the various ap-

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the mental maturity needed to judge between the alternatives offered by the past. It is this role that is so vital to the safety of the American tradition, and without which our security is in danger. As we cast off the peripheral, we must direct our thoughts to the esential and central core of this institution. Although its physical history covers but a few hundred years, that which we will cherish as part of our heritage covers a far greater span of time; it represents the recorded history of man, his hopes, fears, joys, loves, or more inclusive, his ideas, the totality of which represent the unbroken chain of rational human heritage. In a moment in time we have been capable of bringing both the past and the future into the immediate present. Thus it seems, as it were, that we stand at a still point in the turning world ; we have been introduced to the eternal crossroads of rationale where the sum total of human learning may pass before our minds. The illumination of the past is, inversely, the key to the future. Only a thorough knowledge of the past will give us the right to speculation and experimentation in time to come. We, through the very nature of this institution, have become the mediators of the past and the future. It is this responsibility of being the caretakers of the record handed down through ages past that should be cheris hed as the essential and significant meaning of our associa- tion with Washington and Lee. In truth, the very substance of this University has been bestowed upon us; the instruction in the history of man; his ideas. From this moment on, each concrete symbol that calls to memory our residence here must also call into being the gift we have received. We are no longer the observers of the substance of this University, rather, we are now the transmittors. The culmination of four years is made by a leisurely stroll from Washington Hall to the lawn of the President ' s home.