Wheaton College - Nike Yearbook (Norton, MA)

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William Courtney Hamilton Prentice President of Wheaton College 1962-1975 When asked by the Nike staff to share some of his thoughts about Wheaton after his thirteen year tenure, President Prentice responded: There were some great phrase-makers in Wheaton’s past, and it is hard to express what | feel about Wheaton with- out borrowing some phrases from those men to whom the College owes so much. Why does a college that has been so innovative both in curriculum and in the management of student life never- theless strike many observers as a bastion of conservatism? The answer is, | think, that Wheaton does conserve and always has conserved the best of its found- ers’ aims and ideals even while responding continually to changes in society and to new educational opportunities. Samuel Valentine Cole expressed it as ‘‘Old ideals and new horizons.’’ How could one say it better 2 And what could be more characteristic of the Wheaton that you and | know? Another phrase that repeats and repeats itself to me comes from J. Edgar Park’s Wheaton Hymn, ‘‘Early found- ers still are we.'’ All who are concerned about Wheaton, whether as students, trustees, teachers, or administrative officers, must recognize that we are builders for the future, that this college will still be increasing its usefulness when today’s efforts are considered part of Wheaton’s early years. The ‘‘abundant life’, to use another Wheaton phrase, is surely: the life that is lived for others, and | shall always remember the unselfishness and the objective concern for education in its broadest sense which are expressed here especially by students but which also inhere in much of what | have shared with faculty members and Trustees. One early founder departs to be replaced by another who will, in turn, join your search for new horizons, guided by old ideals. Together you will continue to confirm Wheaton’s commitment to the life that is lived abundantly. W. C. H. Prentice President William C. H. Prentice, as the fourth President of Wheaton is himself an early founder. His own dedication to Wheaton's commitment has greatly enhanced the quality of education that we receive at Wheaton. On behalf of all the stu- dents at Wheaton the yearbook staff would like to express our most sincere gratitude for his continued efforts which have strengthened the foundations on which Wheaton College was built.