Swarthmore College Alumni Bulletin 1951-12-01

The Garnet Letter

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SPORTS IN REVIEW , See Back Cover Volume XVI

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Number 2

The Garnet Letter
Volume XVI

BULLETIN

No. 2
DECEMBER, 1951

Published by the Alumni Office of Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pa.
EDITORS

Joseph B. Shane ’25, vice-president; Kath­
ryn Bassett ’35, alumni office; George A.
Test ’49, publicity director.
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS

William F. Lee ’33; president; Herbert L.
Brown T 6, vice-president for men; Virginia
Brown Greer ’26, vice-president for women;
Inez Coulter Russell ’25, secretary.
ADVISORY BOARD

Robert H. Wilson ’31, Chairman; Robert
J. Cadigan ’34, Morris M. Lee, Jr. ’29,
Isabel Logan Lyon ’42, Frederick C. Selby
’44.
ALUMNI REPRESENTATIVES
BOARD OF MANAGERS

Margaret Ball Dellmuth ’33, Raymond K.
Denworth ’l l , Dorothy Merrill Gulick ’26,
Richard H. McFeely ’27, Amos J. Peaslee
’07, Ellen Fernon Reisner ’31, Gertrude
Wood Thatcher T4, William H. Ward T5.

THE ALUMNI FUND
INTERIM REPORT, DEC. 5
The 1951-52 Swarthmore College
Alumni Fund got off to a fast start
this year and so far has broken all
previous records. As we go to press
we can report the following informa­
tion received from the Fund office:
One-third of the $90,000, or
$30,448.43, has already been received
by the college. This is truly phe­
nomenal when we consider that this
is $21,257.42 more than had been
donated at the same time last year.
There is also a new record for num­
ber of donors. 1280 donors have al­
ready contributed. This is 581 more
donors than at the same time last
year. In other words, so far this year
nearly twice as many alumni have
made contributions than at the same
time last year.
In addition, there are approxi­
mately 250 new donors to this year’s
Alumni Fund; that is, alumni who did
not contribute to last year’s campaign.
This early surge of donations has
the Fund office leading a hectic life
but they couldn’t be happier. Their
only hope is that the hectic life keeps
up.

BOARD

NEWS OF SWARTHMORE CLUBS
Philadelphia

Luncheon—Jan. 15, 1952—University Club, 12:30
Alumnae Club Dinner—Feb. 16, 1952, 6:30—Bond Memorial, on
the campus
64th Annual Dinner—Feb. 16, 1952, 6:30—College Dining Room
(Basketball game with Haverford in Lamb-Miller Field House after dinner)

New York

Luncheon Jan. 8, 12:20 Zeta Psi Fraternity, 31 E. 39th St.
Luncheon Feb. 5, 1952, 12:20 Zeta Psi Fraternity, 31 E. 39th St.
Meeting Feb. 8, 1952, 7: 30 Phi Gamma Delta Club, 106 W. 56th St.
Speakers: J o h n W. N a s o n , J o s e p h B. S h a n e
Barnard College Forum, Feb. 16—Waldorf Astoria, 12:45
“The Modern School: Evolution or Revolution?” All College
alumnae invited
OPEN HOUSE FOR PROSPECTIVE MEN STUDENTS

Saturday, Feb. 9, 1952
HARRY EMERSON FOSDICK TO SPEAK

Dec. 16, 1951; 7:30 in Clothier Memorial
_Dr. Fosdick, world famed religious leader, is co-sponsored by the Swarthmore
Christian Association and the William J. Cooper Foundation.

NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN FOR 1952 ALUMNI ELECTIONS
Twelve positions on Alumni governing bodies are now open for nominations it
has been announced by the Nominating Committee of the Alumni Association.
Nominations for these vacancies are open to, and can be made by, any alumni
or ex-students. Names should be sent to the Chairman of the Committee: Mr.
Morris Hicks, 205 College Avenue, Swarthmore or to the Alumni Office. Deadline
for nominations is January 31, 1952.
Two Alumni are elected annually to the Board of Managers for four year
terms. One^ man and one woman must be elected to this position and nominations
are now being accepted.
Five men and five women will also be needed to fill vacancies in the Alumni
Council from the following zones:
4 representatives from Zone I (Pa., Del., and New Jersey excepting the counties
included in Zone I I ).
2 representatives from Zone II (Conn., Maine, Mass., N. H., New York, R. I.,
Vt., and the following counties in New Jersey: Bergen, Essex, Hudson,
Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, and Union.)
2 representatives from Zone III (Ala., Ark., D. C., Fla., Ga., Ky., La. Md. Miss.
N. C., Okla., S. C., Tenn., Texas, Va., W. V a .)
t
2 representatives from Zone IV (111., Ind., Iowa, Kan., Mich. Minn. Mo Neb
N. D., Ohio, S. D., W is.).
Vacancies will occur in 1954 in Zone V (Ariz., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., Nev.,
N. Mex., Oreg., Utah, Wash., Wyo., territories, dependencies, and foreign
countries.)

PSYCHIC PHENOMENON LECTURE PUBLISHED
Lectures on paranormal psychical phenomenon (telepathy, mediumistic spirit
communications, etc.) will be given on the campus from time to time under the
sponsorship of the John William Graham Lectures. Authorities on this topic, dis­
tinguished scientists or philosophers, will be invited to speak.
The first lecture in the series was delivered in April, 1951, by C. J. Ducasse,
Professor of Philosophy at Brown University, under the title, “Paranormal Phe­
nomenon, Nature, and Man.” It has since been published in the Journal of the
American Society of Psychical Research. Copies may be obtained, without charge,
by addressing a request to the Publicity Office, Swarthmore College.

READ THE DODO
For the first time in its history, “The Dodo,” the college literary publication,
is offering a cash prize for the best prose work written by a student. This will be
only one of the many pieces, prose and poetry, to be included in the magazine
when it appears this month.
“The Dodo” staff invites the alumni to be among the readers of the magazine
which represents the finest creative writing talents in the student body. Copies may
be obtained by sending 50c to “The Dodo,” Swarthmore College.

IS SWARTHMORE COMMUNISTIC*
Most small liberal arts colleges have to face the charge of being “com­
munistic!3 From time to time Swarthmore is called a “red” institution and
alumni hear comments to the effect that the students— or the faculty— or both
—at Swarthmore are made up of “radicals .”
At the opening meeting of the 1952 Alumni Fund Committee on the
campus a few weeks ago, when 84 alumni were present, representing all college
generations, some said they were disturbed by the “red” talk. Edna Shoemaker
Mallen ’28, asked President John W . Nason to discuss the subject frankly and
when he had done so those present wished that the entire alumni body could
have heard him.
William L. Jenkins, president of the Class of 1910, suggested that the Pres­
ident’s statement should be published in the G a r n e t L etter — and here it is.
By J o h n W. N a s o n
I have heard on the whole very
much less in recent years about the
“red” or “pink” tinge of Swarthmore
College than I heard in earlier years.
To the best of my knowledge there
are no communists at Swarthmore. I
am certain that there are none among
the faculty. I would do everything in
power to prevent any Communist
from ever becoming a member of the
faculty.
I believe our Swarthmore faculty is
inclined to be conservative. I believe
that any good college faculty should
have all political and economic points
of view represented on it—but this
does not include the communist. Com­
munists are not allowed to follow, and
do not permit others, to follow the
free pursuit of truth. For this reason
I would oppose any communist ever
being on the faculty. Only out of a
free atmosphere permitting different
points of view does wisdom and a set
of convictions come.
So far as the student body is con­
cerned, there may conceivably be a
half dozen who hold Communist party
cards, or who deliberately follow the

party line. We have no way of know­
ing. In the 30’s I knew of one student
who become a member of the Com­
munist party and I have had my sus­
picions about one or two others.
Students “Vote” Republican

We have students at present who
are sympathetic to the Progressive
Party. Some of them may be followers
of the party line, but the majority, I
am sure, are not. In every presidential
straw vote during my 20 years at
Swarthmore, the student body has al­
ways voted Republican.
The reputation of being “red” is
the kind of reputation which is a long
time dying. New episodes to stir up
such talk will always occur. Last year
both the faculty and the student body
of Swarthmore College passed resolu­
tions protesting the action of the Cali­
fornia Regents in demanding a special
loyalty oath of all members of the
University of California faculty. The
demand on the part of the Regents
was by a divided vote and it was
rescinded at one point. It has now
been declared unconstitutional by the
Courts of California. Nevertheless,, one

Swarthmore alumnus considered that
our faculty and student resolution
proved that Swarthmore was “com­
munistic,” and I do not know what we
can do about a person who takes such
an attitude.From the ultra-conservative point
of view, college students are likely to
look radical. Indeed, the student body
ought to be left of center, and I would
not be greatly interested in trying to
teach a group of students if they were
not eager to reform the world. If they
are not left of center while in college,
God help them; they will get con­
servative later in the natural course of
events.
Youth Enthusiastic

Students in college today find the
world a pretty unholy mess and most
of us would say “Amen” to that. The
difference between their point of view
and ours is that they want to set about
refashioning the world in accordance
with their sense of what is just and
fair, and they go at the problem with
all the enthusiasm, energy and ideal­
ism of youth. For the most part they
do not have much experience in the
practical obstacles of reform. We learn
what these obstacles are as we grow
older. We even change our ideas as
to what is fair and just.
GARNET

Frank H. Jackson ’23, summed
up the recent alumni discussion
of “radicalism” this way:
“Swarthmore isn’t Red. It
isn’t Pink. It’s just G a rn e tsame as it always has been.”

FOUR ALUMNI ELECTED TO BOARD OF MANAGERS

CAROLINE BIDDLE M A U N
’28, wife of Patrick Malin, execu­
tive director of the American
Civil Liberties Union, is active
in civic and community affairs, a
member of the Society of Friends
and the mother of three sons.

December, 1951

JACK THOM PSON ’27, chief
editorial writer and associate edi­
tor of the Chester ( Pa. ) Times, is
a past president of the Alumni
Association. He will be remem­
bered by his classmates as the
captain of the swimming team.

RICHARD C. BOND ’31, is ex­
ecutive vice president, general
merchandise manager and mem­
ber of the Board of Directors of
John Wanamaker. In college he
was a member of Book and Key
and captain of the soccer team.

C. NORM AN STABLER ’23, is
financial columnist of the New
York Herald-Tribune and a
member of the Greater New York
Committee for the Hoover Re­
port. At Swarthmore he was a
member of the debating team.
1

Alumni Council Makes Annual Extended Visit
HOMECOMING, J957
From Collection on Thursday morn­
ing ’til late Sunday afternoon of the
1951 Homecoming Weekend, mem­
bers of the Alumni Council, the
officers of the Alumni Association and
the alumni members of the Board of
Managers returned to the Swarthmore campus to savor many aspects
of life at the college. They ate with
the students, sat in on their classes,
listened to the deliberations of the
Student Council.
There were teas with the faculty
and college officials, dances, sports
events with Haverford. This year the
G a r n e t L e t te r takes you through
that same extended weekend in order
to give you some idea of what the
alumni did during their stay on the
campus.

The Alumni Council
meets for tea with
the President.

(below)
An

informal

chat

with the President.

(right)
Former athletic cap­
tains meet with ’51
captain and a team­
mate.

Tea after the game

A seminar and visitor

December, 1:951

ROBERT PYLE DIES
The sudden death of Robert Pyle
of a heart attack while undergoing a
routine checkup in Chester County
Hospital occurred on September 28,
1951. He will be deeply missed by
those who knew him not only for his
active influence on the college but
because his death leaves an inevitable
gap in the horticultural vvorld.
Robert Pyle was a graduate of the
college in the class of 1897, and an
emeritus member of the Board of
Managers. Internationally known as
a grower of roses and horticultural
expert, Mr. Pyle was also president of
the Conard-Pyle Co., of West Grove,
Pa., the author of several books on
roses and the editor of Success with
Roses, a magazine.
Acts As Superintendent

Immediately upon his graduation
from Swarthmore, Robert Pyle be­
came acting superintendent of the
college. In the years following he be­
came active in the Conard-Pyle Co.,
and also did graduate work at the
International School for Social and
Religious Study, Woodbrooke, Eng­
land. In 1909 he became a member
of the Board of Managers of Swarth­
more College and continued his active
participation in college affairs until
his retirement in 1949. He was par­
ticularly interested in the grounds and
in the steady growth of the campus in
natural beauty.
Mr. Pyle was founder of the United
Horticultural Society and co-founder
of the American Association of Botan­
ical Gardens and Arboretums. He
was a past president of the American
Horticultural Society. He was active
in and an officer of many other horti­
cultural societies, both here and
abroad, and for his work in the latter,
he was honored by a decoration from
the country of Luxembourg and given
a medal by the City of Paris. Of the
many roses which he introduced the
“Peace” rose is perhaps the most fa­
mous, and for which he was awarded
a gold medal by the American Rose
Society.
His classmates will remember Robert
Pyle as president of the senior class
in its first term, as editor of the
Phoenix and the ’97 Halcyon, and as
an active orator. He was a member of
Delta Upsilon, Sigma Xi, Pi Alpha Xi
fraternities.
A Quaker with deep convictions,
he saw his roses as ambassadors be­
tween men of all nations. It was his
belief that Swarthmore College should
December, 1951

lead in upholding the Peace Testi­
mony of Friends. He was “a man
who walked in the quiet and peaceful
ways of life and helped to show others
the secret of happiness through the
cultivation of flowers.”

ALUMNI OF THREE
COLLEGES MEET IN
CHICAGO
The unique three-college coopera­
tion program among Swarthmore,
Haverford and Bryn Mawr was ex­
tended into a new area in October
when alumni groups in Chicago, from
the three schools, met together for the
first time. Approximately 170 alumni
of the schools, twelve parents of stu­
dents now in the colleges, and twelve
headmasters of local schools, attended
the dinner meeting at which the pres­
idents of the colleges were the guests
of honor. The success of the meeting
insures not only its continuation in
the Chicago district, but also the ex­
tension of the same practice into
other metropolitan areas.
In her talk with the alumni, Miss
Katherine McBride of Bryn Mawr
told how the eight-year-old coopera­
tion scheme worked to cut costs
without sacrificing standards by inter­
changing classrooms, library facilities
and instructors.
Gilbert White, president of Haver­
ford, spoke of the unique role of the
small liberal arts college in American
education, while President Nason
stressed the need for continued support
for such schools.
Swarthmore representatives on the
dinner committee were Elizabeth Pol­
lard Fetter ’25, Tom McCabe ’49,
Dorothy Anderson Bowler ’22, Allin
Pierce ’19 and Jess Halsted ’18.

CHARACTER, COURTESY
AND TOUCHDOWNS
Swarthmore received nation-wide
publicity recently when the football
game with Haverford was scored on
the basis of character and sportsman­
ship as well as on the conventional
touchdown, extra point method.
The system for judging the “char­
acter” contest was devised by Joe
Tomlin ’27, who is now an insurance
agent in Philadelphia and the head
of the Glenn S. “Pop” Warner Foun­
dation, “a public supported institution
for the character education of young
America.” The Foundation, founded
in 1930, is interested in boys under 12
and runs a sandlot football league,
the Pop Warner Conference, for
them.
Self-Control Sought

The games in the early days of
the Conference were such rowdy af­
fairs that the “character” system was
installed in 1948 to try to induce
self-control and more mannerly be­
havior on the part of the players, the
coaches and the fans. The system has
worked so well that the problem of
rowdyism is now virtually non-exist­
ent in the Pop Warner Conference.
Joe wanted to use the system in a
college game so he contacted Lew
Elverson and Roy Randall. They
agreed to the experiment and the first
“character” contest in the annals of
intercollegiate football took place at
Alumni Field.
Fans and Players Scored

In the Swarthmore - Haverford
game, two “officials, representatives of
the Northeast Philadelphia Junior
Chamber of Commerce, followed the
game from the sidelines. They noted
player and coach conduct on the
bench, the behavior of the fans. They
checked the poise, mental alertness
and physical condition (especially after
the game) of the players, their will to
compete, their respect for the author­
ity of the officials. They scored each
team from 0 to 5 in each of ten cate­
gories, making 50 the perfect score.
When the final whistle blew in this
much-publicized game, Swarthmore
had carried off the “character” honors
45-43, as well1as the regular game.
Actually the “officials” said that
there was little to choose between the
teams since both scores were in the
“excellent” class. The real difference
they said was in the action of several
ardent Haverford fans who protested
violently against a clipping penalty
called against their team.
3

FALL SPORTS IN REVIEW
Swarthmore’s 19-7 Homecoming
victory over Haverford marked the
close of the fall sports season and gave
the soccer, cross-country, football and
hockey teams a total win-loss record
of 14-14.
The 1951 football record was at
once brighter than the 1950 season,
and yet disappointing. Starting the
season against an already experienced
Juniata team, Swarthmore, unsure
and cautious, played the Indians to a
13-7 score that could just as easily
been a victory for the Garnet. Against
Wagner in the second game, the team
lost its early season jitters and won a
rough, rugged ball game, 20-157 With
Ursinus it was again a matter of
“breaks.” With Bill Jones passing, Nick
Cusano and Dave Hansen running,
the team played one of its best games
and lost, 25-20.
Oski Injured

Swarthmore lost the next one too;
F & M, 53-13. Clearly outmanned
and overpowered, the team committed
itself creditably. Hopkins and Drexel
were the next opponents and both
games are still thought of with puzzle­
ment. Despite the 39-6 and 35-6 scores
neither of the opposition was as good
as the difference in scores would seem
to indicate.The Hopkins game was
especially heartbreaking since it de­
prived the team of the services for the
rest of the season of blocking quarter­
back, Frank Oski, who pulled a back
muscle.

ASPLUNDH RECEIVES
MAXWELL AWARD
Bob Asplundh, captain and center
of the football team, not only re­
ceived the Maxwell Club (of Phila­
delphia sports writers) college award
of the week November 26th, but he
also became one of the important
speakers on the program. The Phila­
delphia Bulletin said, “His talk was
by far the best made by a Maxwellhonored athlete.”
Many of young Asplundh’s remarks
had to do with his father, Lester
Asplundh ’23, who was an outstand­
ing football player in his day. This
V as the trouble, said Bob, since any
write-up about himself invariably
mentioned Les, who then proceeded
to carry off all the wordage. Calling
him the son of the immortal Les
was another handicap, mentioned by
Bob.
“The other week when it
rained before a game, my teammates
rushed up to me: ‘Your old man is
immortal, isn’t he? Well, tell him
to call on that guy to turn off the
rain!’ ”
Bob was chosen over all other
college players in the area for his
outstanding work in the climax game
against Haverford. It was the second
time he had won the award, being
first honored in 1946 as a high school
star at Bryn Athyn Academy.

second period, with Bill Jones, Nick
Cusano and Mike Freilich bearing the
brunt of the offensive thrust.
In the third quarter Haverford
finally managed to get possession of
the ball in Swarthmore territory as
the result of a recovered fumble. They
quickly drove across for a score.
Swarthmore scored again in the same
period and the game ran its course
without any further excitement, al­
though Swarthmore attempted a field
goal in the last quarter, a weapon it
had been secretly preparing all week.
Final score, 19-7.

With seven straight victories under
its belt the team seemed to fall apart,
for in the next game it was defeated
by Navy, 2-0. Ten days later defeat
struck again, this time at the hands of
an alert and “up” Haverford team
5-1.
This loss threw the southern division
of the Middle Atlantic States Confer­
ence into a four way tie among
Swarthmore, Haverford, Lehigh and
Rutgers. In the first round of the
play-off games, the Garnet got sweet
revenge for their previous defeat by
whipping Haverford, 3-2, but a 3-0
defeat by Lehigh eliminated them
from the play-off.
The cross-country record for 1951
was two wins and four losses. The
outstanding performer was captain of
the team, Avery Harrington, Jr. (son
of Avery Harrington ’22). He fin­
ished first in three of the six matches
this season, despite which the Garnet
lost two of the three. In the second
meet of the season, Avery set a new
Swarthmore course record but the
team lost to Delaware, 29-28.
Hockey Wins 3, Loses 3

The hockey team finished the season
with three straight victories allowing
them to end their schedule with three
wins and three losses.
The team opened its season against
a star-studded Temple team and lost,
4-0. Against Ursinus and Penn, the
team continued its losing ways, but by
less wide margins, 2-0 and 1-0.
They finally opened up in the Rosemont game and swamped the opposi­
tion, 8-0. Victories over Chestnut Hill
and Drexel closed the season.

Soccer Team Best

Then came the Haverford game.
Both teams were out to atone for poor
seasons. Together their records showed
only one victory between them going
into the final contest. Swarthmore,
possessor of the lone victory, was, on
the basis of the victory and the fact
that it had fared somewhat better than
Haverford against several common
opponents, slightly favored.
After a scoreless first quarter played
entirely in Haverford territory,
Swarthmore finally got rolling and
scored twice in quick succession in the

The soccer team made by far the
best record of the fall sports, seven
wins and two losses in the regularly
scheduled season. Starting with a win
over the Alumni, the Garnet defeated
a strong Penn team, 3-1, in the second
game, and then went on to conquer
Rutgers, Princeton, Ursinus, Stevens
and Lehigh. In the Rutgers, Princeton
and Lehigh games the team was forced
to come from behind to get their
victory. George Place (son of G. W.
Place ’21) was the playmaker on the
offense, with freshman sensations, Jim
White and Connie Inglessis, leading
the scoring. White was particularly
effective in the Ursinus game when he
scored half of the team’s ten goals.

Honors for the season go to Cornelia
Wheeler, captain of the team, Ann
MacMillan, the team’s high scorer,
Mary Jane D’Emilio and Sue Slaugh
(daughter of Francis Wills Slaugh
’21). These girls placed on the Phila­
delphia All-College first, second and
fourth teams respectively. After tour­
nament play against All-Philadelphia
club teams, Cornelia and Ann were
chosen to try out for the All-American
team at Wellesley College during the
Thanksgiving holiday.