The Garnet Letter

VISIT YOUR CAMPUS
ALUMNI DAY
SATURDAY, JUNE 9

May, 1951
Volume XV

Number 3

BULLETIN

The Garnet Letter
Volume 15

No. 3
MAY 1951

Published three times yearly by the Alumni
Office of Swarthmore College, Swarthmore,
Pa.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Morris L. Clothier F ie ld s ...............
Events on the C a m p u s.................
A Man of Facts in A c tio n ......................
Alumnae Hear S tu d e n ts ..........................
Campus in B lo o m .....................................
Among the Alumni ................................
Trygve Lie to Speak ..............................
The Editor’s Corner ............................ ;
Class Notes ................................................
ADVISORY BOARD

Chairman
Robert H. Wilson ’31
Members
Robert J. Cadigan
Morris M. Lee, Jr.
Isabel Logan Lyon
Frederick C. Selby

’34
’29
’42
’44

EDITORS

Joseph B. Shane ’25
Vice-President
Kathryn Bassett ’35
Alumni Office
John I. Brooks ’48
Publicity Director

ALUMNI FUND
PROGRESS
The Alumni Fund must meet its
goal of $90,000 by Alumni Day,
June 9. $55,031.47 has been
contributed so far, as of April
20 .

This total has come from 2,236
alumni.
We need $34,968.53 more.

1
2
3
4
4
5
6
6

7

As the affairs of the Alumni Office
are now under the direction of the
Vice-President of the College and as
there is no Alumni Executive Secre­
tary, it is necessary to make some
changes in the Constitution of the
Alumni Association. The Constitution
states that changes must be published
thirty days in advance of an Alumni
Association meeting at which they
are to be brought up for discussion
and vote. The meeting will be held
in the Meeting House at 11:45 A.M.
Saturday, June 9, 1951.
RESOLVED that Article V of the
Constitution of the Swarthmore Col­
lege Alumni Association be amended
by striking out and repealing the last
sentence thereof and inserting in lieu
thereof the following:
“The Vice-President of the College in
charge of Alumni Affairs shall be a
member ex-officio of the Council. Here­
after referred to as the Vice-President
of the College.”

FURTHER RESOLVED that Ar­
ticle V II of the Constitution be
amended by striking out and repealing
all of Article V II and substituting in
lieu thereof a new Article V II as
follows :
“Article V II—Vice-President of the
'College.
Section 1. Selection. The Vice- President of the College shall be selected
jointly by the Alumni Council and the
college administration with the approval
of the Board of Managers.
Sec. 2. Duties. The Vice-President
of^ the College shall be the chief oper­
ating agent of the Association in the ac­
complishment of its functions and shall
be the chief liaison officer between the
Association and the college administra­
tion. He shall serve as the coordinator
of all activities.”
* * #

Because no Alumni Directory has
been issued since 1940, the Public
Relations Committee recently investi­
gated the cost of issuing a new one.

BOARD
Their conclusion was that the cost of
publication would be prohibitive at
the present time. The Executive Com­
mittee of the Alumni Council agreed
with the decision of the P. R. Com­
mittee.
Alumni who wish to reach friends
and classmates may obtain addresses
from the Alumni Office, providing
that the request is made for a non­
commercial purpose.
1951 REUNION CHAIRMEN

1876
1881
1886
1891 Hannah Clothier Hull
504 Walnut Lane, Swarthmore, Pa.

1896 Isaac H. Clothier, Jr.
801 Market Street, Phila., Pa.

1901 Deborah Ferrier Strattan
“The Greenleaf,” Moorestown, N. J.

1906 Edith Lewis White
120 Hilldale Rd., Lansdowne, Pa.

1911 Raymond K. Denworth
301 Elm Avenue, Swarthmore, Pa.

1916 Sewell Hodge
111 Ogden Ave., Swarthmore, Pa.

1921 Wm. Staunton Moylan
421 Anthwyn Rd., Narberth, Pa.

1926 Carroll E. Ogden
Naaman’s Creek Rd., R. D. No. 1,
Box 96, Boothwyn, Pa.

1931 Edward L. Noyes
490 Riverview Rd., Swarthmore, Pa.

1936 Philip D. Croll
Rm. 1107, 1608 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, Pa.

Florence Lyons Gowing
635 Parrish Rd., Swarthmore, Pa.

1941 Richard O. Smith
1208 Morgan Ave., Drexel Hill, Pa.

1946 Joseph Dillenbeck
307 North Hills Ave.,
North Hills, Pa.

1949 Laura Reppert Unger
Broadlawn Apts., Apt. 1-1
100 Charles Drive, Bryn Mawr, Pa..

ALUMNI DAY RESERVATIONS
Luncheon reservations may be picked up in Parrish Hall at any time before
1:00 p.m. on June 9 or will be mailed when a self-addressed, stamped envelope
accompanies the reservation. Please send reservation in advance.
If you are a member of one of the reunion classes please make your reserva­
tion for the Reunion Dinner with your Class Reunion Chairman and not through
the Alumni Office.
Housing reservations will not he accepted after June 4. Paid reservations''
will be held in the House Director’s Office (West End—Parrish).
See Back Cover For Alumni Day and Commencement Weekend Program
The Garnet Letter

ì

THE MORRIS L CLOTHIER FIELDS
The Board of Managers has de­
cided that the new football field and
track now under construction near
the Lamb-Miller Field House is to
be joined to the present soccer and
lacrosse fields to form a new athletic
center. This area will be known as
Morris L. Clothier Fields, named in
honor of the late Philadelphia mer­
chant and philanthropist, a devoted
alumnus of the College. Dedication
ceremonies will be held on Alumni
Day, so that alumni will have a
chance to join in the tribute to
Clothier and see the new facilities
for Swarthmore sports.
The dedication of the field will be
a recognition of the great role which
Morris Clothier played in shaping the
destiny of Swarthmore College. He
was a member of the Class of 1890—
a fact which no one was allowed to
forget—and his loyalty to his class
and to his college led him to donate
an estimated sum of over a million
dollars to various projects, much of it
said to have been contributed anony­
mously.

Swarthmore campus were given by
Morris Clothier. The ornamental
gateway at the north entrance to the
campus is one of his gifts, as are the
clock and chimes in the Library
tower, which serve as a timepiece for
the whole community. And of course
Clothier Memorial Auditorium, per­
haps the chief landmark of the Col­
lege today, was raised in memory of

use it next fall. Last autumn it seemed
sure that the Garnet eleven was bat­
tling for the last time on Alumni
Field, but now it seems that more
service is ahead for the gridiron on
the north campus. We are reminded
by this that Alumni Field is also the
gift of Morris Clothier.
Gave Professorships

Besides all this, Clothier endowed
professorships in English and physics
and bestowed many other benefac­
tions on his alma mater. In announc­
ing the name of the new athletic
center, President John Nason said,
“Morris L. Clothier was one of the
great figures during the period of
Swarthmore’s rapid growth. No more
loyal alumnus graduated from the
College. He was actively interested
throughout his long life in every
phase of the College’s activities. It is
highly appropriate that his name and
memory should be perpetuated in the
new athletic fields in which he would
have taken so much satisfaction.”
A change has been made in the
usual Alumni Day proceedings to
make it easier for alumni to attend
the dedication ceremonies. The an­
nual Parade of Classes will march or
ride down to the new fields instead
of to the Outdoor Auditorium. The
usual Auditorium program will not
be held, but will be replaced by the
ceremony of dedication, at which a
plaque will be unveiled and several
speakers will address alumni and
visitors.

Was Football Captain

While a student at Swarthmore,
Clot'hier was captain of the football
team and active in many other sports
as well. He was the chief influence
in the founding of the Phi Kappa Psi
fraternity chapter at Swarthmore,
and with Howard Cooper Johnson
’96, today president of the College
Corporation, he established the So­
ciety of Book and Key.
Many familiar features of the

Morris L. Clothier ’90

Morris
Clothier’s father,
Isaac:
Clothier, by his wife and children.
Because of government building
restrictions, it is doubtful that the
College will be able to erect stands
at the new football field in time to

THE NEW PLAYING FIELD near the Lamb-Miller Field House. This w ill be part of the Morris L. Clothier Fields. The Field House is in the background.

May, 1951

1

EVENTS ON THE CAMPUS
PARENTS INVITED

Parents of students now in college
have been invited to Parents’ Day, to
be held May 5 on the campus. This
is the second Parents’ Day in recent
years, the other having been held in
1949. Plans are to invite parents for
a day devoted exclusively to them
every other year, so that each parent
may have at least two chances to see
Swarthmore, unencumbered by the
necessity of moving the offspring in
or out of a dormitory.
The program for May 5 is similar
to that arranged for two years ago.
There will be tours of the campus in
full bloom, athletic events, an out­
door production by the Little Theatre
Club, and tea. In the evening, there
will be an address by Nora Wain T9,
author and journalist.

on these and other subjects at several
universities and at conferences in
Toronto and Chicago.
Beardsley has been a member of
the faculty since 1947. He is married
to the former Elizabeth Lane ’35,
who is lecturing in philosophy during
her husband’s leave of absence.
BLAKE HEADS ALL STARS

Lacrosse coach Avery Blake ’28, a
former All-American, has been named

AYDELOTTE HONORED

A recent issue of The American
Oxonian, published by the Rhodes
Trust, was dedicated to Frank Aydelotte, former president of the College
and American secretary of the Rhodes
Trust since 1913. A warm and human
picture of the great educator emerged
from the essays written about him .by
seven of his associates in the various
enterprises which have so completely
filled his life.
John Nason, as Aydelotte’s succes­
sor and a Rhodes Scholar, was called
upon for one of the seven essays, and
he said this of Frank Aydelotte: “He
believed with single-minded intensity
and wholehearted exuberance in what
he was doing . . . Few college or
university faculties have had a
warmer or brighter star to which to
hitch their academic wagons.”
BEARDSLEY LECTURES

Working on a Guggenheim fellow­
ship awarded him in April, 1950,
Monroe C. Beardsley, assistant pro­
fessor of philosophy, has spent a busy
year of research, writing and lectur­
ing on some of the most controversial
problems' in modern aesthetics.
A list' of titles of recent lectures
delivered by him shows the general
"area vpf his interest: “The Logical
¿Basis** of Poetry,” “The Cognitive
"Status of Poems,” “Metaphors and
Similes,” “The Problem of Para­
phrase,” “Poetry and the Problem
pf Belief.’’ Mr.. Beardsley has spoken
2

recorded by astronomers; A photo­
graph taken as one of a routine series
through the Sproul telescope at 2:04
E.S.T. on July 26, 1939, caught the
fainter half of a nearby double star
team at four times its normal bright­
ness.
A reexamination of the Observa­
tory’s photographic record recently
revealed the event, which was invis­
ible to the naked eye. The flare-up,
which lasted for only a very few
minutes, took place on Krueger 60B,
a star having only 1/2,000 the bright­
ness of the sun and the smallest mass
yet measured for any visible star.
These flare-ups, according to Dr.
van de Kamp, are unpredictable and
not completely understood. What
happens is that for several minutes
a star exhibits a great increase, in
outpouring of energy, which shows up
as increased brightness.
Discoverer van de Kamp has di­
rected the Sproul Observatory since
1937, when he succeeded Dr. John A.
Miller. He prepared the report of the
recent discovery in collaboration with
Sarah Lee Lippincott, a former stu­
dent in the class of 1942 who re­
ceived her M.A. at Swarthmore in
1950 and is now associated with the
Observatory.
* DU PONT AWARD

Coach Ave Blake

head of the coaching staff for the
South team in the annual NorthSouth all star lacrosse game being
played at Troy, N. Y., in June. Blake,
who is beginning his 23rd season as
head of the Garnet lacrosse team, has
an enviable record for that long
period.
Last year’s Blakemen, for example,
won eight out of ten contests for the
highest percentage of victories earned
by any Swarthmore men’s inter-col­
legiate team. This year’s squad,
loaded with experienced men, prom­
ises to keep the Garnet flag flying
high in lacrosse circles.
Probably a bigger thrill to “Ave”
than the honor of coaching the allstar team comes when he watches his
son perform on the Garnet team.
STAR FLARE SEEN

Peter van de Kamp, director of
the Sproul Observatory, recently re­
ported to the scientific world the dis­
covery of an unusual flare-up of a
nearby star, one of six such events

Television station WFIL-TV was
recently honored with the Alfred I.
duPont Award for “the outstanding
and meritorious public service of the
‘WFIL-TV University of the Air.’ ”
The “University of the Air” series
is the one on which Swarthmore,
Bryn Mawr and Haverford are pre­
senting an 11 -week series of programs
on “Our Ties with Other Cultures.”
General Manager Roger W. Clipp of
the Philadelphia station wrote to
John Nason when the award was
. made, “Please realize that we shall
be ever mindful of the significant part
you are playing in this project—with­
out which this great service could not
be rendered to the community.”
Swarthmore’s part in the threecollege series began with the first
program on March 23, when Robert
Walker and Hedley Rhys of the Fine
Arts department joined with Joseph
Sloane of Haverford to present a dis­
cussion called “Our Architecture—
Native or Imported?” Since then,
Swarthmore professors have been ap­
pearing almost weekly, on the sched­
ule
announced
in Swarthmore
Reports.
The Garnet Letter

A MAN OF FACTS IN ACTION
“A man’s education doesn’t stop
with his college degree. I always
wanted to continue the education of
men I taught in college, because none
of us can ever afford to stop learning.”
It is Dr. Louis N. Robinson ’05
talking, and the former Professor of
Economics isn’t preaching something
which he failed to practice. This
year he retired as chairman of the

economic and political questions as
we did when I was teaching. We de­
cided to try it out and planned to
meet every two weeks on Thursday
evenings at my home.”
The group, originally styled the
“Thursday Evening Goup,” later ex­
panded to include non-Swarthmoreans and took the name, “Economics
Discussion Group.” Like the names
of all economic groups, this one soon
reduced itself to initials—E. D. G.
The E. D. G. has had a continuous
existence for a period of more than
20 years, has grown to a membership
of over 70 and has heard nationally
prominent speakers in many fields of
economics, government and social
science.
Taught at Swarthmore

Louis N. Robinson ’05

Swarthmore Economics Discussion
Group, an organization which he,
with some of his former students,
founded in 1930. This “outstanding
project in adult education,” as Frank
Aydelotte called it, sprang from
Robinson’s ideas about continuation
of education beyond the years of
schooling.
Story of E. D. G.

Dr. Robinson tells the story this
way: “In origin, the Economics Dis­
cussion Group goes back to a conver­
sation which took place one evening
in 1930 between Hugh Denworth T6
and myself. Hugh had majored in
economics with me when I was Pro­
fessor of Economics at Swarthmore
and the warm friendship then formed
had continued over the years follow­
ing his graduation.
“He mentioned the fact that there
were a number of my former Swarth­
more students living in and around
Swarthmore, who would like to meet
with me from time to time to discuss
May, 1951

The E. D. G. is an appropriate
symbol of Robinson’s philosophy and
his life. Like the men he inspired to
go on learning after college, he has
continued his own education ever
since leaving Swarthmore. While do­
ing graduate work at Cornell Uni­
versity, culminating in the Ph.D. in
1911, he returned to Swarthmore as
an instructor. By 1913 he had reached
the grade of full professor, and he
continued in that capacity until 1918.
His doctoral thesis at Cornell bore
the title, “The History and Organiza­
tion of Criminal Statistics.” It was
the beginning of a lifelong study in
criminology and penology, fields in
which he has attained eminence. The
Quaker concern for prisons and pris­
oners caused him to continue his
studies in criminology while he was
at Swarthmore, and in 1913 he was
named secretary of the State Penal
Commission. When he left the
Swarthmore faculty, it was to become
Chief Probation Officer of the Phila­
delphia Municipal Court. In the suc­
ceeding years, he has served on and
directed many commissions investi­
gating crime and its punishment.
Tribute From Henderson

When Leon Henderson ’20 wrote
an article on Robinson for the Delta
Upsilon Quarterly in 1926, he called
him “a dealer in facts in action.”
How apt was this characterization can
be seen not only from his work on
crime prevention and prison reform,
his teaching and his leadership of the

E. D. G., but from all the host of
other activities which have filled his
long and active life.
In 1921, for example, the Russell
Sage Foundation appointed Robinson
to conduct a survey of the small loans
business. The study which resulted
was a major weapon in the campaign
which stamped out many of the ram­
pant evil practices in that business.
One of the chief backers of the Sage
Foundation work was the Household
Finance Corporation. In 1928 that
corporation named Dr. Robinson to
its Board of Directors, on which he
has served ever since.
And he has been active on other
fronts. In 1917, when an explosion
shattered the waterfront at Eddystone, Pa., it was Robinson who led
the efforts at relief for the victims. In
recent years, he has served as Chair­
man of the Board for the Home for
Aged and Infirm Colored People in
Philadelphia. He resigned the chair­
manship recently, but still continues
his interest and serves on the Board.
Holds Beliefs Deeply

Louis Robinson’s beliefs are deeply
held and vigorously articulate. Claude
C. Smith T 4, attorney and vice-pres­
ident of the College Corporation, says
that one day when Robinson was
teaching a class of which Claude was
a member, the professor inadvertently
plunged his foot into a wastebasket .
while emphasizing his point. Robin­
son went on lecturing until he had
made the point completely before
calmly extricating his foot.
The Robinson home stands at the
College Avenue entrance to Swarth­
more College, and his has been a
Swarthmore family, if there ever was
one. All six of his children are
Swarthmore graduates, and five of
them have married other Swarthmoreans! His first wife was the former
Caroline Hadley ’06, who died in
1946. In 1947 he married Mrs. Marylyn C. Wyne, and the couple live to­
day at the big College Avenue house.
Today, Robinson says he is drop­
ping as many executive responsibil­
ities as he can. But his' associates in
E. D. G. and elsewhere know that
he has a great deal more to do and
say—and knowing Louis Robinson,
they know he will get it done and
said.

C A M P U S IN B L O O M
by J o h n C. W is t e r , Director
Arthur Hoyt Scott Horticultural
Foundation
Each year as April comes around,
it is easy to see how the grounds of
Swarthmore College have earned the
title, “The People’s Garden.” The
campus has been beautiful this past
month with spring flowers, particu­
larly Magnolias, Cherries, Daffodils
and various flowering shrubs.
The peak season of the Daffodils
is over, but late varieties bloom be­
tween May 1 and May 15 in the
frame near the Field House, in the
woods and among the shrubs near
the College Avenue entrance.
Among the most spectacular of the
flowering trees, shrubs and herbaceous
plants to bloom in late April and
early May are the flowering Crabapples, of which there are more than
25 varieties on the slope between
Cunningham House and Worth Hall,
and as many more on the east border
of Cunningham Field (the women’s
athletic field).
Near the Meeting House, the great
Lilac collection should be in bloom
from late April until mid-May. There
are more than 75 varieties growing
in this collection, comprising not
only the well-known, older kinds, but
some of the newest varieties raised in
Europe and America.
Even more unusual are the Tree
Peonies on the bank opposite Worth.
This is the largest collection of named
varieties of Japanese Tree Peonies in

this country. The flowers normally
open between the 12th and 15th of
May and are often 8-10 inches across.
A little later, about the last week
in May, there will be yellow-andmaroon-toned hybrid Tree Peonies in
the Iris and Peony garden at the rail­
road station. At the same time there
will be several hundred varieties of
Iris and herbaceous Peonies, the lat­
ter beginning in early May and reach­
ing their height the last week in May
and the first week in June.
In the Azalea garden near the
President’s house,' in the Meeting
House woods and around the Out­
door Auditorium there are collections
of, Azaleas and Rhododendrons. The
earliest Azaleas will bloom by the first
of May, but the great peak of bloom
will not be reached until the latter
part of the month.
The Rhododendrons begin about
the 20th of May and last throughout
the month and into the first two
weeks of June, with native Pennsyl­
vania Rhododendron maximum com­
ing at the end of June. The Rhodo­
dendron collection now includes the
very remarkable new Dexter hybrid
varieties, which are planted below
the Outdoor Auditorium. These come
into bloom about the middle of May,
have very large flowers and often
considerable fragrance.
Finally, about Commencement
time, the collection of Mock Oranges
will be in bloom near the Library.
There are both single and double
forms of these blossoms, and most of
them are fragrant.

This great spray of blossoms on the Campus each spring, is the work of thè Scott Foundation.

ALUMNAE HEAR STUDENTS

Something new in alumnae gather­
ings was the annual luncheon of the
Swarthmore Alumnae Club of Phila­
delphia, held recently at Strath
Haven Inn. Highlight of the meeting
was a series of six talks on aspects .of
a coed’s life at Swarthmore today,
given by representative students. The
idea for this kind of a session was
born at a meeting of the Club’s
Executive Committee, headed by
Esther Ridpath Delaplaine ’44.

Esther Ridpath Delaplaine ’44

Frances Commins ’52 of New York
City, president of WSGA, told the
alumnae group that students today
are assuming more and more respon­
sibility for enforcement of college
regulations and are initiating ideas
and cooperating with faculty and
administration in the direction of
their own activities.
Beverly Miller ’52 of Minneapolis,
Minn., spoke of the opportunities for
social life oh the campus. Beverly
is co-chairman of the social commit­
tee. Barbara Turlington ’53 of Chevy
Chase, Md., described the organiza­
tions devoted to political and social
action.
Suzanne Slaugh ’52, daughter of
Frances Wills Slaugh ’21, talked
about women’s sports, both intra­
mural and varsity. Carolyn Wilcox
’52 of Swarthmore provided a note
on extracurricular endeavors in the
arts.
Mary Jane Winde ’53 of Wilming­
ton, daughter of Gertrude Jolls ’28
and Norman H. ’27, closed the talks
with a description of the growing
interest in religion at the college.
4

The Garnet Letter

AMONG THE ALUMNI
A DOCTOR’S ODYSSEY

If Dr. Fred Richards ’45 is not the
leading globetrotter among Swarthmore’s recent graduates, he is cer­
tainly a contender for that honor.
That is not the Sheik of Araby but
Richards himself kneeling over a pa­
tient in the photograph below. That
picture was taken in the desert of
the Persian Gulf area, north of
Mosul. And Fred’s pilgrimage of the
last two years has included a Nevada
ranch and a tour of western Europe,
too.
The Nevada episode came first,
says Fred in a recent letter. Fred
spent a period in 1949 in the ranch
country near Pioche, caring for the
medical needs of about 2,000. He
•says he acquired quite a reputation
as an obstetrician, but wasn’t too
busy to indulge a passion for pistol
and rifle shooting in the mountain
and sagebrush country.
Late in the same year, Fred heard
of a need for a doctor to go to Arabia
with an oil exploration company. “I
had fallen in love with Pioche,” he
says, “but this looked quite interest­
ing, so . . . I flew to Kuwayt, in the
northwest corner of the Persian Gulf,
and was installed in a cabin on the
exploration ship as the Doctor.”
Except for his European tour,
which was made on vacation last
winter, he has spent almost all his
time since leaving the U. S. caring
for the Americans and native laborers
attached to the expedition. There are
no women and children among the
retinue except for the families of the
Bedouin guards, and these are veiled
Moslems. Richards travels 80 miles
from his own headquarters for rare
visits to Kuwayt, “where teak sailing
ships pick up gold for the Far East
and the pearling fleet spends the
winter.”
In Europe, Fred says he picked up
the answers to a lot' of questions
which had bothered him recently.
After talking to many Germans and
Austrians, he feels that “they have
none of the (American) faith in
arms,” and that conscription and
mobilization are a mistake. He says
that there is more freedom “in some
ways” in the absolute monarchy of
Kuwayt, ruled by a Sheikh, than in
the United States today, citing the
freedom of political statement, free
trade and absence of conscription
May, 1951

which prevail in the Middle Eastern
state.
TOM LAPHAM HONORED

A $1,500 Freedom Foundation
Award was presented by General
Omar Bradley to Thomas W. Lapham ’31 in a Washington’s Birthday
ceremony at Valley Forge. The prize
was given in recognition of Lapham’s
work on “Primer for Americans,” a
statement of American ideals which
he wrote with Sigurd S. Larmon,
president of Young and Rubicam,
Inc., of New York City. Lapham is
a copywriter with the Young and
Rubicam organization.
Tom Lapham, a native of Port
Washington, N. Y., was connected
with the mail order sales department
of Montgomery Ward and Co. before
going to Young and Rubicam in
1944. His “Primer for Americans” has
been read into the Congressional
Record, translated into Japanese and
given worldwide distribution by the
State Department.
DAVIS IN WASHINGTON

Clark W. Davis T7 has been named
chief of the Rubber, Chemicals and
Drugs Division of the Office of Price
Stabilization. He has had over three
decades of experience with the
duPont Corporation, the last two in
executive positions.
Since 1942 Davis has been assistant
general manager of the Grasselli
chemicals department of duPont, pro­
viding him with a broad background
for his government post. Prior to the
Grasselli post, he was an executive

in the explosives division, at one
time managing the military explosives
department.
Clark Davis is married and has
one son, Richard B. He is a D. U.
from Swarthmore days and a member
of the Racquet Club of Philadelphia.
The Davises live in Wallingford.
Ed. Note: At press time we learned
that Mr. Davis has been recalled by
duPont and will not serve the O.P.S.
SWARTHMOREANA

Mary Winifred Bushkara TO is the
author of 7 Married an Arab, an
autobiographical account of her life
in a tiny Arab republic 4,000 feet
above the sea. Mrs. Bushkara was
married to her Arabian husband in
1925, but it was not until 1937 that
the couple left the United States to
make a home in the mountains of the
Middle East.
Housewives will find in Mrs. Bushkara’s book a fascinating account of
how she received 2,500 callers—
mostly her husband’s relatives!
In the “History in the Making”
section of the New York HeraldTribune on March 18 there appeared
an article by Margaret Parton ’37,
under a New Delhi dateline. Miss
Parton advises Americans not to ex­
pect a lavish display of gratitude from
India if the proposed gift of grain
is sent to that country, because In­
dian pride breeds a hatred of the
necessity of being helped.
Jay Monaghan T3 wrote the fea­
tured article in the February 11 New
York Tirties Book Review. It is a
study of Lincoln as a symbol of
democracy, entitled “The Man and
the Memory Still Abide.”

Dr. Fred Richards ’45 kneels over a patient in the desert country near the Persian Gulf, north of Mosul.

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Trygve Lie to Speak
The College is honored to have as
its Commencement speaker this June
Mr. Trygve Lie, Secretary-General of
the United Nations. He will address
seniors and their guests at the cere­
mony in Scott Outdoor Auditorium
at 10 a.m. on Monday, June 11.

Trygve Lie

Trygve Lie is a Norwegian car­
penter’s son who helpèd to pay his
way through law school by working
at the headquarters of the Norwegian
Labor Party in Oslo. When he took
his degree, he became permanently
associated with the Party, and when
it came into power, he rose to be­
come Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He first became connected with the
U.N. when he headed the Norwegian
delegation at San Francisco in 1945.
He was named Secretary-General at
the first meeting of the General As­
sembly.
Two other outstanding speakers
have been scheduled for Commence­
ment weekend, Clarence E. Pickett
and Dr. Maurice Mandelbaum.
Pickett, who is Honorary Secretary
of the American Friends Service
Committee, will speak at the Bac­
calaureate Service at 11 a.m. on Sun­
day, June 10.
Maurice Mandelbaum, former as­
sociate professor of philosophy at
Swarthmore now at the University
of Michigan, will deliver the Phi Beta
Kappa address at Friends Meeting
House at 8:30 in the evening of the
same day.
Alumni who wish to hear any of
these speakers may do so.
6

THE E DI TOR' S CORNER
We have received from our readers
a generous assortment of opinions
and comments since we asked for
advice about the publication of Class
Notes in the Garnet Letter.
The Notes are back again in their
customary form in this issue, after
being omitted in February. However,
our share of the tightened college
budget will not permit us hereafter to
publish three full sets of Class Notes
each year, as was our practice until
1950.
In all the mail that has come in,
not a single letter has suggested that
Class Notes be eliminated entirely. In
fact our mail convinces us that Class
Notes are the first thing in the Garnet
Letter that everybody reads—but only
in part.
There were two people who told us
they read all of the Class Notes
straight through from start to finish.
All the others said they read the
contributions of their own Class
Secretary, and glance at the items for
other classes of their particular col­
lege generation. Then they skip over
the remaining pages which our con­
scientious Class Secretaries write up
for us—and which cost so much to
put into type.
Most alumni urged us strongly to
print Class Notes in their present
form just as often as we can afford
them. In fact, two of our correspond­
ents—presumably belonging to classes
that are well trained in reporting
news to their Secretaries—said we
should adopt a subscription price or
ask for cash donations to keep the
supply of Class Notes undiminished.
On the other hand, a good many
readers tell us that twice a year is
often enough for Class Notes, and a
rather surprising number said they
would settle for once a year. Among
this latter group was one of the mem­
bers of the Advisory Board who said
that limiting Class Notes to once-ayear would be a boon to the college
exchequer-, a saving to the eyesight
of the staff of the Alumni Office, and
a blessing to harassed Class Secretar­
ies whose classmates are reluctant in
their correspondence.

One suggestion was that we try to
publish Class Notes in every issue,
giving each class a fixed amount of
space and letting the Secretaries pick
their best items to fill it. The Secre­
taries, however, said please deliver
them from having to do any picking
and choosing among the news items
they find it difficult enough to collect
as it is.
We suggested that in future issues
the Alumni Office might try applying
an editor’s blue pencil to the Class
Secretary’s copy if the ratio between
number of words and number of
facts ran too high for our finances.
Most Secretaries agreed to this but
one whose prose is still a matter of
pride to the faculty of the English
Department, said she thought we’d
have a mighty uninteresting publica­
tion if we edited Class Notes down to
a collection of vital statistics. We
agree.
Sentiment seems to be unanimous
that the Garnet Letter should be
filled primarily with news about
alumni, for alumni.
It takes the place of the personal
letters that not many of us get around
to writing—at least not after the
fifth reunion. Even so, the question
has been raised whether we might not
cut down some on the volume of Class
Notes (especially those that get quite
outdated) and use our space for
special stories and pictures of alumni
engaged in interesting activities or
located in out-of-the-way places. Per­
haps these would appeal to most of
our readers, and help give us a maga­
zine more thoroughly enjoyed from
cover to cover.
The Advisory Board is thinking it
all over. If you have any suggestions
for special stories or articles about any
of your friends and their activities,
we’d like to have them. We’ll be glad
to have mail, too, on any other sub­
ject you may think the Advisory
Board should have in mind. Please
write us. It’s the only way we’ll know
what kind of publication you want
the Garnet Letter to be.
The Advisory Board
The Garnet Letter

Commencement Week-End
1951
Friday, June 8
Annual Alumni Golf Tournament—2:30 P.M.
Rolling Green Country Club
Open to both men and women
Send entries to the Alumni Office
Alumni Council Business Meeting—8:00 P.M.

ALUMNI DAY
Saturday, June 9
Alumni Association Meeting, Friends Meeting House ...................... 11:45 A.M.
Luncheon .............. | .................................................................................
1:00 P.M.
Parade of Classes from Parrish Hall to New Athletic F ie ld s..........
2:15
Dedication Ceremonies for Morris L. Clothier F ie ld s..........................
2:45
Baseball—Swarthmore vs. Lakehurst Naval Air Station,
Alumni F ie ld .................................................................................. . • 3:30
Softball-—Faculty vs. Alumni, Alumni Field ........................................
3:30
Tea, Front Campus .................................................... 4:30
Swimming Pools Open ............................................................................
3:00-5:30
Reunion Dinners ................................................................................ • • •
6:30
Alumni Dance, Parrish H a l l ....................................................................
9:00
Alumni Sing, Parrish Hall ..........................•........................................... 10:00

Sunday, June 10
Baccalaureate, Clothier Memorial .................................................. ...
C la r e n c e E. P ic k e t t , Speaker
Last Collection, Clothier Memorial ..................................................
S id n e y M o r g e n b e s s e r , Speaker
Phi Beta Kappa Lecture, Friends Meeting House . .. .............. ...........
M au ric e M a n d e l b a u m , Speaker

Monday, June 11
Commencement, Arthur Hoyt Scott Outdoor Auditorium
10:00 A.M.
T rygve L ie , Speaker
NOTE: Reservation Blank For Alumni Day Inside.

11:00 A.M.
7:00 P.M.
8:30

SWARTHMORE COLLEGE

Report of the President
I am happy to report a general feeling of confidence and
optimism about the state of the college. The student body is
smaller, and each decrease in numbers lessens the strain on
faculty and physical facilities. With another normal freshman
group the sense of class unity is reappearing. The chaotic mix­
ture of students created by the return of the veterans at the end
of the war is giving way to the orderly progression of groups
who remain together throughout four years of college. This
makes a profound difference to a residential college which is
concerned with a much broader concept of education than mere
book lamin’. The influx of new members of the faculty is sub­
siding. Here, too, there is greater continuity and stability. The
new members have brought fresh viewpoints, vigor, and ability.
With each additional year of teaching they become more closely
knit into a corporate body.
In a period when the financial plight of the private college
is the subject of much public discussion, it is pleasant to report
that the financial condition of Swarthmore is better than it has
been for several years. The college ended its last two fiscal years
in the black, thereby correcting a three year period of operating
deficits. In spite of a reduction in the number of students the
budget for the current year calls for a modest margin of income
over expenditures. While various economies at the college have
helped to produce this comfortable state of affairs, chief credit
must go to the people who have increased the college’s income
—to the many donors in the current campaign, to the members
of the Trust Committee who raised the net rate of return on
the endowment to 4.4%, and above all to the 2528 alumni who
contributed $70,888 to the operating revenue of the college.
This magnificent response has encouraged us all and plays no
small part in the feeling of confidence to which I have referred.
1

It would be wrong to leave the impression that the college
has no more problems. It has them in full measure both in num­
ber and in seriousness. The worst emergencies of the war and
the immediate post-war period, however, appear to be over. It
is now possible to make plans for the future, and to put one’s
efforts into long range and constructive programs rather than
into a series of stop-gap measures. The college is returning to
normal—not the normal of pre-war years which are gone forever,
but a new pattern for the changed world of the decades ahead.

The Size of the College
The college opened this fall with 956 students—the first time
since 1945 that the fall enrollment has fallen below 1000. Before
the war the enrollment was 750, and a joint board-faculty
committee had agreed on 700 resident students as the desirable
number, only to have the draft, the war, and the post-war wave
of veterans make nonsense of the best laid plans. During this
past year another joint board-faculty committee wrestled with
the many and complex factors which bear upon the optimum
size of the student body.
The primary concern animating the committee was to
maintain and improve the quality of education. This involved
distinguishing four sets of relevant and indeed interrelated con­
siderations—the academic, the extra-curricular, the financial, and
the physical. While this is roughly the order of their importance,
my comments on their report will reverse the order.

Physical Facilities
There is classroom space for 1000 students. The library,
crowded and inadequate before the war, is unsuited to a college
of our size. Our physics and chemistry laboratories are out of
date. All laboratories, with the possible exception of engineering,
have been overcrowded since the war. We have plans for a
new library and a new science building. They can be designed
to take care of any number of students within reasonable

2

limits. Two points, however, must be borne in mind. The larger
the student body, the larger and more expensive the new build­
ings must be. Second, even if the students dropped to 700 in
number, the new library and new laboratory would be necessary
for proper functioning.
A residential college must provide dormitories and dining
halls. While the hotel function of the college is secondary to
its educational purpose, there are three reasons why adequate
residential accommodations cannot be ignored. The first is that
the college has an obligation to provide reasonably comfortable
places for living and eating. In the second place, the character
of living accommodations influences in many ways the total
educational program. Crowded and noisy dormitories do not
encourage the best academic performance. Crowded dining halls,
run perforce on a cafeteria system, are not conducive to good
manners and good appearance. Finally, the amenities of life
influence applicants and their parents in the choice of a college.
Parents want the best possible education for their children. They
also want them well housed and fed.
Conditions immediately following the war necessitated a
degree of crowding which cannot be justified in the years ahead.
The college must either reduce its student body or increase its
dormitory and dining hall facilities or both. For a variety of
reasons the committee recommended against the permanent use
of the Mary Lyon School buildings as a part of the dormitory
system. Plans call for the erection of a new women s dormitory
to house 120 girls. When this is built, and we hope it can be
soon, Parrish, Worth, Woolman, and the new building will pro­
vide accommodation for 380 women. Wharton, Palmer, Pittenger,
and Roberts will take care of 345 men. A total of 725 resident
students with 125 day students, most of whom will be men, gives
a student body of 850. Any larger number would involve addi­
tional new dormitories or more day students or heavy crowding
in existing buildings.
The long range plans for the campus call for new and more
adequate dining halls. For the present we must do the best we
can with what we have.
3

Finances
The committee gave careful consideration to the cost of
running the college at different sizes. As everyone knows, sharply
increased operating costs have created serious problems for
every private institution. Endowment income provided 50% of
the educational cost per student before the war. Today it pro­
vides only 30%. Even if the student body were reduced to the
pre-war figure of 750, endowment income would cover only
40% of educational expenditures.
It has often been suggested that, since endowment income
per student increases as the size of the student body decreases,
the budget could be most readily balanced by reducing the
number of students. There are two difficulties with this view. The
first is that the relatively fixed costs of operation—the mainte­
nance of physical plant, the operation of libraries and labora­
tories, the administrative and general expense—do not decrease
in the same ratio as the decrease in students. Neither does the
cost of instruction. The reduction would have to be so drastic
that a second difficulty would become fatal. The student body
would become so small and instruction so severely curtailed that
the character of the college would be transformed and its sur­
vival would be jeopardized.
A study of projected budgets for different numbers of stu­
dents leads to the conclusion that, apart from necessary capital
expenditures, the larger the student body, the easier it becomes
to balance the budget. New and increased sources of income
can reverse this situation. Every increase in the Alumni Fund
or in endowment income makes financially possible a further
reduction in numbers, while maintaining the high quality of the
educational program as a whole.

Extra-curricular Activities
While the academic program is the core of a college educa­
tion, everything that happens to a student in college contributes
to his total education. There are 168 hours in every week. If a
student spends 56 hours in sleep and 50 hours in classroom,
4

laboratory, and study, both of which estimates are probably
excessive for the average student at Swarthmore, there remain
62 hours each week. These are devoted to play, to extra-curricular
activities both organized and unorganized, to the social relations
natural to group living, to dressing, eating, and getting about
from place to place, most of which are social rather than solitary
activities. Something less than one-third of a student’s total time
is given to his studies. Something more than one-third is spent
in miscellaneous activities.
It is obvious that the larger and more diversified the student
body, the more extensive will be the range of extra-curricular
activities. Our experience during the post-war boom of stu­
dents, as I pointed out in my report last year, was one of a
wider range of activities carried on at a higher level of perform­
ance than ever before in the history of the college. That is good
and is an argument for more rather than fewer students. On
the other hand, the larger the college community, the less inti­
mately each member feels a part of it and the more diffuse
becomes the influence of the college as a whole. At what point
does a small college begin to lose the intangible virtues of
smallness and assume the cosmopolitan character of the large
university? I am not sure that anyone knows.
The problem for us is to be sure that we preserve the
values of die small college. One of these is the temper or spiritual
climate of the campus. It is too nebulous to be treated with any
exactness. Like Mr. Squeers’ comment on nature in Nicholas
Nickleby, it “is more easier conceived than described.” Surely
it is true that the more closely knit the academic community,
the greater is the impact of community standards and values.
Where every student knows every other student, individual
deviations are quiedy discouraged and the subtle processes of
mutual education are enhanced. This is no plea for uniformity
or a common stamp. It is, however, an argument in fav.or of
those values and attitudes which have traditionally character­
ized Swarthmore College. Apart from its academic reputation,
parents say that they are more influenced by the Quaker tradi­
tion and outlook than by any other factor. They respect what the
5

Friends stand for, and they think it provides a spiritually healthy
background for college education.
Now it is no easy task to preserve Quaker patterns of thought
and behavior under contemporary conditions. The world has a
way of concocting new wines which cannot be put into old
bottles. It is doubly difficult when the size of the college prevents
the emergence of common understanding and a recognition of
common obligations. I would not make Quakers out of the
Episcopalians and Presbyterians who come as students. I would,
however, have them graduate feeling that Swarthmore stood on
the spiritual level for something distinctive, something of value
and meaning. The purpose of an education, as someone else once
said, is to cast such a light as will illuminate a man throughout
the rest of his life. It is my conviction that we can accomplish
this more easily with fewer students.

The Academic Program
The good schoolmaster, wrote Sir Richard Livingstone, is
known by the number of subjects which he declines to teach.
It is more important that the small college teach a few subjects
well than a large number indifferently. There is always pressure
to add new courses and departments, and sometimes, as in the
case of international relations, anthropology, Russian language,
literature, and history, it is educationally important to introduce
new subjects. Furthermore, old subjects have a way of growing
and sub-dividing until one or two men can no longer master all
branches.
If we assume that Swarthmore will continue to provide good
instruction in areas already included in the curriculum, then a
faculty of 85 full time people or their equivalent seems neces­
sary. To cut below this figure would involve the elimination of
some* existing departments or the cheapening of instruction all
along the line. Let me cite electrical engineering as an illustra­
tion. Electronics is a fertile new area with which any competent
electrical engineer must now be familiar. This was not so before
the war. We must either eliminate the department entirely or be

6

prepared to offer more courses—which means more faculty—
than once were necessary.
There is nothing absolute about the figure 85, which inci­
dentally does not allow for new subjects in the curriculum. It is
one man’s judgment of a reasonable mean between the ideal in
terms of diversity and the necessary in terms of financial limita­
tions. If it be accepted, and if we assume a ration of 10 students
to one faculty member, the result is a student body of 850. Before
the war our ratio was eight to one. If this could be reached
again, a smaller student body would be indicated. The time may
come when we can once again enjoy so favorable an academic
situation, but for the present it is out of the question.
These are the considerations which led the committee to
recommend, and the board and faculty to adopt in June of this
year, a figure between 850 and 900 for the student body. Every­
one recognized that the figure was tentative. Too many cir­
cumstances outside the college’s control could easily upset the
calculations on which the final decision was based. Nevertheless,
it provides an immediate goal to aim at and provides a directive
to admissions officers and budget makers. I hope that it will be
possible to reach the smaller figure and even to go below it.
In the long run, it is conceivable that the advantages of
fewer students will outweigh the advantages of a larger student
body. At the moment the budget is decisive. If income can be
increased or expenditures (through economies or a price decline)
reduced or both, we might return to our pre-war size of 750.
There are, however, some other things which the college must
do first. One of these is to improve the level of faculty salaries.
Another is to reduce the teaching load.
The committee was well aware of these. It could not provide
the working drawings for the post-war educational edifice. It
has offered an architect’s rough sketch as guide. The committee
worked long and hard, and we owe to its members-Nora Booth,
George Cuttino, Walter Keighton, Robert Lamb, John McCrumm,
Edith Philips, Helen Worth and Barclay White, chairman-our
grateful thanks for an excellent job.

7

Student Attrition
A year ago Archibald Macintosh, Vice-President and Direc­
tor of Admissions at Haverford College, published a small book
entitled Behind the Academic Curtain. It contained a startling
set of figures on student mortality, which I here reproduce.
Classification
Men’s Colleges (over 1000)
Women’s Colleges (under 1000)
Women’s Colleges (over 1000)
Men’s Colleges (under 1000)
Coeducational Colleges (under 1000)
Coeducational Colleges (over 1000)

Loss, by Percentage
37.0
45.2
50.6
55.5
55.7
61.1

Coeducational institutions with over 1000 students are for
the most part state universities. It is well known that many
of their students attend for a year or two with no intention
of remaining until graduation. It is shocking, however, to
realize that over half of the freshmen entering the small men’s
colleges and coeducational colleges do not graduate. These,
together with the women’s colleges, are the private institutions
that exercise some selective judgment in admissions and base
their education on a four-year program.
During the past year John Moore, Registrar and Associate
Dean, made a careful study of the records of the last five classes
at Swarthmore to graduate before the war. For the five year
period 73.3% of all entering freshmen graduated. Thirteen and
three-tenths per cent left college of their own choice and in
good academic standing, while 13.4% were dropped or withdrew
in poor academic standing. Of the men 76% graduated, 70.7% of
the women. While 7% of the men left before graduation with good
records and 16.9% were dropped or withdrew with poor records,
the corresponding figures for the women are 19.2% and 10.1%.
A mortality of only 26.7% is a very much better showing than
that for small coeducational colleges as a group. It still leaves
much room for improvement. Health, finances, family responsibil­
ities, and changes in vocational purpose will always eliminate
some students before graduation. Inability to do satisfactory
8

work or lack of proper motivation will add others to the list.
Perhaps we should be content if three-quarters of the freshmen
graduate. The purpose of the college, however, is to provide an
education or the beginnings of one. Graduation is the external
symbol that some genuine ferment and progress have taken
place. The problem might, therefore, be stated in the form of
how to graduate as high a percentage of students as possible.
The solution is a function of many factors. Success depends
upon admissions policies and practices, upon the adequacy of
financial aid, upon the nature of the academic program, upon the
kind of counsel and help the students receive, and upon a variety
of personal considerations. I have discussed admissions policies
in previous reports. It is to be hoped that more extensive finan­
cial aid to students will soon be possible. The academic program
is subject to continuous review and improvement. The nature
and proper extent of personal guidance are much debated, and
perhaps a few comments on the subject are in order.

Student Counseling
Student counseling has become a profession in itself. Grad­
uate courses and degrees are offered in the subject. Any number
of books have been published. Nearly every educational meeting
devotes at least one session to the topic. Many large universities
have established separate offices with an imposing staff of experts
in remedial reading, vocational guidance and placement, tests
and measurements, academic and personal counseling. No doubt
much of this is of real value in the large university with its
large classes, impersonal relations between teacher and student,
heterogeneous student body, diversity of aims, and confusion of
values. It is, however, becoming increasingly costly of time and
money. Some of its advocates talk as if the adjustment of the
individual to society were merely a matter of scientific analysis.
Science has much to contribute, but I am suspicious of any theory
which does not place the major responsibility on the individual
for the determination of his own destiny.
The small college, even with a highly selected student body,
faces a similar variety of student problems, but it should be
9

possible to deal with them in a less formal and professional way.
Students need academic advice. Deans and faculty members
should know the students well enough to give them sound assist­
ance. No system of course advising is perfect or operates
without occasional mistakes. Its success depends on constant
vigilance. This is, however, a corporate responsibility of the
faculty, time consuming to be sure, but of the essence of the
small college.
It was once the fashion to ignore the personal problems of
students as in no sense the responsibility of the institution. They
are problems which students bring with them to college, arising
out of unhappy childhoods, broken homes, parental conflicts,
social maladjustments, physical handicaps, conflicts or confusions
of purpose. They are frequently made more acute by the stresses
of late adolescence, by getting away from home, and by the
strain of a new environment. We are coming to recognize that
these problems are the rule rather than the exception, that they
have a direct bearing in many instances on academic perform­
ance, and certainly that they limit the total educational effective­
ness of the institution.
Some of these difficulties disappear with greater maturity.
They are painful while they last, but they are an almost inevitable
part of the process of growing up. Some can be removed by wise
advice from deans and faculty to whom students frequently turn.
Some are deep rooted and serious. For these psychiatric counsel­
ing is the only remedy. Any college concerned with the whole
personality, character, and outlook of its students must recognize
the importance of emotional health and maturity as well as of
intellectual growth and make provision for it.
For a number of years the college maintained a connection
with the Institute for Mental Hygiene of the Pennsylvania Hos­
pital. This enabled us to refer serious cases to one of the doctors
on the Institute staff. Three years ago Dr. Leon J. Saul, practising
psychiatrist and Professor of Preventive Psychiatry at the Uni­
versity of Pennsylvania, became consulting psychiatrist to the
college, giving one day a week to students. Last year it became

10

necessary to add. Dr. John W. Lyons as a second consulting psy­
chiatrist to take care of student needs. It would be difficult to
estimate the contribution made by these two physicians. They
have helped to set many students on the right road; they have
prevented much human suffering; they have undoubtedly con­
tributed to the academic success of at least some of the students
who have consulted them.
From the college’s point of view it is an expensive business,
and from the psychiatrist’s side it is a time-consuming one. With
this in mind, Dr. Saul experimented last year with a non-credit
course on Problems of Emotional Maturity limited to ten mem­
bers of each class. The students were so enthusiastic and Dr. Saul
himself sufficiently encouraged by this experiment in group psy­
chiatry that the course is being repeated this year for a limited
number of sophomores, while Dr. Lyons is giving a similar course
for juniors and seniors. The expansion of the work has been made
possible by a grant from the W. T. Grant Foundation of $6000,
half to be used this year and half next, with the understanding
that the results of the experimental courses will be studied and
published for the benefit of other institutions.

The Campaign
The past year was satisfying in many ways with respect to
the campaign. Chief emphasis was put on the Alumni Fund, the
goal for which was set at $70,000. This was three times the
largest amount contributed to the Fund before the current cam­
paign started. There were misgivings in some quarters about so
large a sum, but the Alumni Fund Committee under the enthusi­
astic chairmanship of Isaac G. Darlington, 07, refused to be
deterred. The response was a magnificent demonstration of the
concern of Swarthmore alumni for the college. The goal for the
current academic year has been set at $80,000. The flood of
checks which have come in response to the first announcement
on November 1, many from non-contributors last year and many
for larger sums, augurs well for the success of this year s Fund.
I have stated the case for the Alumni Fund in previous reports.
On this occasion I want to express my warmest thanks to Isaac

11

Darlington, to the Alumni Fund Committee, to the class agents,
and to the 2528 alumni who collectively and individually made
so generous and significant a contribution to the college.
Although the general campaign was not pushed during
1948-49, a total of $600,388 was received by the college.
Notable among the gifts was the grant of $50,000 for scholarships
from the George F. Baker Trust. This is an expendable sum to
be used over the next six to eight years in enabling outstanding
boys who might not otherwise be able to attend college to come
to Swarthmore. The Carnegie Corporation made a grant of $105,000 to Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, and Haverford for a joint pro­
gram of Russian studies. For accounting purposes one-third of
this sum has been credited to the campaign. The Rockefeller
Foundation made a grant of $10,000 for the work of the Swarth­
more College Peace Collection.
Plans for the new women’s dormitory are moving steadily
ahead. With the allocation of the Rushmore estate it is estimated
that approximately half the total cost is in hand. When the Mary
Lyon School buildings are given up as undergraduate dormi­
tories, the new women’s dormitory will become an immediate
necessity. The location is being reviewed and plans developed.
Now is the strategic time for all alumni and alumnae interested
in more adequate dormitories for the students to contribute to
the women’s dormitory fund.
The new science building continues to be an urgent aca­
demic need. The old laboratories for physics and chemistry are
inadequate and overcrowded. We must make more satisfactory
provision for instruction in these fields if we are to compete with
other institutions and maintain the quality of our work. The com­
mittee has various plans for raising funds, and more will be heard
of them during the present academic year.
Since the present football field has been approved as the
site for the new science building, the completion of the playing
fields near the field house has become urgent. It is a pleasure to
report that work on the grading of these fields was started this fall
with a pleasant ceremony on Homecoming Day, November 19.
Twenty-five former football captains were back to turn a shovel-

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full of earth, and Howard Cooper Johnson, President of the Board
of Managers, rode a modern bulldozer in the ground-breaking
ceremony. It will take two years for the fill to settle and the grass
to become playable. The final completion of these fields will take
more money than the college has yet in hand, but fortunately it
can be done by stages. The start has been made, both for the new
fields and for the new science building.
The Bequests Committee under the chairmanship of Claude
C. Smith, 14, continues to be active. In the long run the work of
this committee is bound to prove of enormous value to the col­
lege. Every campaign stimulates bequests which come to the
college five, ten, fifteen, or more years after the campaign is over.
These need to be encouraged and facilitated. Many individuals
are uncertain where they can leave their money for the best good
of society. The lawyers, trust officers, and insurance men who
compose the Bequests Committee are in a position to encourage
and fulfill the hopes of donors and to benefit Swarthmore.
At the end of the third year of the campaign the receipts
have been $2,000,000. This leaves us a long way still to go, but
there is no telling when the cumulative effect of the campaign
will bring the goal of $5,000,000 in sight. Indeed, the contribu­
tions of the past year, many of which were not directly solicited,
have begun to show evidence of increasing concern and support.
I have said nothing so far of the new library. This remains one
of the major and unsolved needs of the college. It is not possible,
however, to concentrate on all aspects at once. Let us hope that
before long, as other projects are realized, we can put a major
effort behind the realization of a library adequate to the Swarth­
more of today.

Board and Administrative Changes
The death on March 12, 1949, of Edward Brinton Temple
was a serious loss to the college community. A graduate in engi­
neering in 1891, Edward Temple maintained an active interest
in his alma mater. He became a member of the Board of Man­
agers in 1918 and was elected Treasurer in 1940. Ever young in
spirit, he contributed generously of his time and counsel to col13

lege affairs. We shall miss his presence, his infectious humor, and
his wise judgment.
Robert Pyle, member of the Board since 1909, and Clement
M. Biddle, member since 1927, have resigned from active service
to become emeritus members. Both have contributed much to the
guidance of the college. Fortunately we shall continue to have
their counsel at Board meetings, let us hope for many years to
come.
In the revision of the by-laws carried through in 1947 it was
agreed that any vacancies on the Board should be filled by nomi­
nation of the alumni until the full quota of eight alumni nomi­
nated Managers was reached. One of the three vacancies was
filled by the nomination of John E. Orchard, ’16, Professor of
Economic Geography at Columbia University. A second is in the
process of being filled. The Alumni Association graciously yielded
the third place to the Board in order to make possible the election
of E. Lawrence Worstall, ’24, as Treasurer of the college. Law­
rence Worstall is Vice-President of the Philadelphia National
Bank and a former President of the Philadelphia Alumni Club.
He is a welcome addition to the officers of the Board, and his
election has been hailed with pleasure throughout the college
community.
After eleven years as Alumni Executive Secretary, Carl K.
Dellmuth resigned in July of this year to become the first full­
time Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Bankers Association.
Carl Dellmuth gave up his insurance business to assume the
duties of the newly-created position of Alumni Secretary at a
critical period in college-alumni relations. In the eleven years
that have intervened a profound change has occurred for which
he is largely responsible. In addition to the regular duties of
Alumni Secretary, Carl Dellmuth has also served as vocational
adviser to men and Director of Athletics. We shall miss him as
deeply as we wish him success in his new venture.
Andrew Simpson, superintendent of buildings and grounds
since 1933, has resigned that position to become consulting engi­
neer on a part time basis. His place will be taken by Harry Wood
who came as head gardener in 1927, who is a member of Sigma
14

Xi, and who has served as acting Superintendent on several
occasions. Miss Alice Moran, Mr. Jeptha Carrell and Mrs.
Carrell, all of whom have rendered valuable service in recent
years, have resigned their positions in the office of the deans.
Miss Morans and Mrs. Carrell’s places have been taken by Miss
Barbara Colbron, a graduate of Bryn Mawr in 1937, and formerly
adviser to freshman women at the University of Wisconsin. Mr.
Carrell’s place remains to be filled.

Conclusion
I began this report by expressing a feeling of confidence
about the present and future of the college. There remains plenty
to be done. The curriculum is not yet what it should be. Admin­
istrative reorganization is still in process. The financial picture,
while distinctly better, still leaves much to be desired. The cam­
paign is a long way from its goal.
Nevertheless, progress is being made, and the milestones in
that progress are heartening to everyone. Alumni understanding
and participation are better than ever before. In an era of ex­
pansion Swarthmore has decided to remain small. In an era of
government support, Swarthmore remains a privately financed
and controlled institution. In an era of reaction, the college re­
mains true to the liberal tradition of the Society of Friends. In an
era of crisis, the college is prepared to provide sound education,
of high quality, imbued with the social concern of Quaker prin­
ciples.
J o h n W. N a s o n

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