Vacation is over, and the old halls that were clothed in
the garb of quietness during the summer months, are made
to resound, again, with that joyful melody which cannot but
cause a thrill of rapture to pass through the veins of every old
student. To the old men the Bance extends her hand of
welcome and wishes you a happy as well as a prosperous
year. As we come back we find many improvements and
better facilities for work; but, we, also, find new responsi
bilities. The higher we climb in the pursuit of knowledge,
the greater will be the obligation and the duties expected
from us. How different college life presents itself now when
we compare it to the days when we looked through the eyes of
Freshmen. We are just beginning to learn that our mass
of learning is but a pebble in the universe of knowledge, and
that whatever direction we take, new conditions and new
problems stare us in the face. But, with all this let us steer
right onward and upward so that we may be worthy repre
sentatives of our beloved Alma Mater.
To the new students we extend our cordial greetings
and wish you well in the new step you have taken. You
have gone out from the protection and influence of good
homes. Be careful of the advances you make in your new
environment. At no time in your life will it pay to be man
ly so well as now. Your success and reputation will now
depend upon yourself. You may have the best preparatory
training that is available, and the best intellectual ability
possible, but without a life based upon the true principles of
manhood, and the desire to stand by what is right, all the
college training in the world will not make you a successful
man or woman. Hence your four year’s life here should aim
to develop in two directions: (1) the acquiring of mental
ability, and (2) the continued aim to build character.
Of the first so many men mistake the idea of college
training. Education does not consist of the drinking in of
so many facts in history or geometry or some other subject,