Yale University - Sheffield Scientific School Yearbook (New Haven, CT)

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CLASS ORATION As a'eZz'1ferea' on Class Day by Max F. Millilqan. RADITION dictates on this occasion that I be dull and pom- pous. I shall not depart from custom here. In one other respect, however, I find it somewhat more difficult to follow the procedure expected of Class Orators. I am supposed to stand here and explain with a perfectly straight face what we, the graduating Class, think- or more generally, what Youth thinks-about college, about the worlcl, about Life. I-Iaving been given this solemn assignment by my fellows, I find myself a trifle embarrassed. For the question, What does Youth think? implies two things. It implies that there is a category of beings having enough in common so that we may col- lectively label them Youth, and it implies that one of the character- istics of this group is that it thinks. Since both of these assumptions seem to me patently absurd, I find myself, as I say, somewhat baf- fled as to how to answer the question What does Youth think? There is, of course, a formula for the solution of this problem. It has come to the aid of countless Class Orators in the past, and it is the particular delight of those professional Youths, most of them past forty, whose gushings on the New Generation help to fill the pages of our more respectable periodicals. The essence of the for- mula is somewhat as follows: The world is in chaos. Our predeces- sors, especially the generation immediately before us, are responsible for this sorry state of affairs. They have made a mess of things. But we, Youth, are not dismayed by this spectacle of stupidity. We re- fuse to accept either the indifference of the mad twenties or the hopeless pessimism of the late great commercial distress. We look upon the world with clear and eager eyes, understanding the hor- rible mistakes our foolish forebears have made. Let us at it, and we will build a new civilization out of the shattered remnants of the old. As one of Yale's 1'1l0St prominent Youths put it recently, We have stopped saying inclifferently, :What the helll, and are saying impatiently, 'What the devill, H I wish I could subscribe to this comforting and inspiring formula. Unfortunately, I see little in myself or my fellow fledgelings to sub- stantiate it. It is true that undergraduates are in general taking less English and more economics and government and that there is to-

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80 CLASS OF NINETEEN THIRTY-FIVE S. AND E. winter vacation. We found it not much different from the previous ones. There was, of course, the usual Christmas, with the usual parties and the usual return to New Haven for rest. Many of us found the rigors of the winter to be quite severe. Old, battle-scarred coon-skins began to appear and all manner of queer hats were no- ticeable, but the strangest device of its kind was that of Senior Balbo', Brown who appeared one morning wearing on his chin the first downy harbingers of a wool tie and vest. We spent a week or so sympathetically scratching our own faces, wondering when it would stop itching and become a beard. Although the interrelation of the two events is doubtful, it was about this time that the Supreme Court of the U.S. began its own little reign of terror, thus tending to considerably complicate matters in the Business Operations classes. The excitement once over, we turned our attention to the rapidly approaching Iunior Prom, resented the new plan Qthus showing our usual conservatismj, and made arrangements. The cry of False Alarmn was soon audible, and inquiry disclosed the fact that the de- lay was caused by the fact that two fairly well-known womenis col- leges were having festivities on the week-end selected. Feeling the desirability of having a few of the weaker sex present, the committee, meekly subservient to the demands of Vassar, quietly relinquished their masculine individuality and postponed the Prom. When it finally did arrive there was the usual merriment in Woolsey, with the traditional parties in the various houses. Spring or Easter vacation arrived in due timeg and with the real- ization that this would probably be our last vacation for some few days and that there were to be no Derby Day parties to which to look forward this year, we saw the necessity of capitalizing on op- portunity and many departed for the South to verify the reports brought back last year. There on the beaches of Miami, or Bermuda, or on the links at Pinehurst the history of this Class became hope- lessly entangled with that of Smith 1935 and to attempt to unravel the tangle would take more time than permitted. And now passing on through the gates to find our niche in the outer world we leave behind us the unsullied reputation of the Class of 1935 and pass on to the succeeding classes the care of the rapidly metamorphosing traditions of Yale.

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82 CLASS OF NINETEEN THIRTY-FIVE S. AND E. day more extra-curricular discussion of political and social problems than there was in Mr. Coolidge's paradise. My friends are probably more familiar with the front page of the New York TZ'7716! than were my older brother and his pals. But only wishful thinking or a mind peculiarly impervious to evidence could lead us from this pic- ture to the conclusion that college Youth in general is profoundly disturbed about the world and militantly determined to remodel it. It is a commentary upon the gullibility of the populace that belief in this Youth formula remains widespread though the formula has been current for many decades. Faith in the completely unusual and unprecedented promise of the current batch of Youth is apparently characteristic of every period. Very few Youths can, as individuals, gain the trust and respect of their elders, but throw the whole ag- gregate of gawky simpletons together, call them Youth Ccapitalizing the first letterj, and they are miraculously transformed into an army of heroes marching valiantly upon the forces of chaos and confusion. Generation after generation pour out of the divers educational in- stitutions of the country, each batch being duly informed in an in- spiring graduation address, that it will build a new civilization on the smoking ruins of the old. And generation after generation the ruins go on quietly smoking in brazen defiance of the armies of Youth. Either those who advise us are congenitally blind to the snail's pace of progress, or they think it better we should dream the great dream of conquering vast empires though they know it to be an illusion. But in spite of graduating addresses, most of us do not, in fact, Ht the formula. This sounds, perhaps, like a discouragingly pessimistic conclusion. But must we despair because the men of Yale are not dreaming this great dream? Must the country give itself up for lost because we have not, in our four years here, drawn up blueprints for a new Utopia? I think not. Indeed there is good reason to be- lieve that this should rather be cause for general rejoicing. For this ideal of immediate and vigorous action on the part of Youth is so shot through with naive misconceptions, oversimplifications, and ignorance of the problem that it can only lead us astray. The fact that it is not accepted by the great body of young men at least pre- pares the way for a much higher ideal, an ideal more firmly rooted in reality. Let me illustrate what I mean by reference to the futile activities of those small groups of undergraduates who do fit the conventional Youth formula. There are in the country innumerable little Youth