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1H, 1 A Vol.15, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, CHAPEL HILL, H. C, THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1907. Nos. 29 and 30. OFFICIAL ORGAN OP THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION. 1 1 2th COMM AN EVENTFUL CLASS DAY. THE FINAL RED LETTER DAY. MM mmm I BREAKS T RECORD. THE LARGEST GRADUATING CLASS SINCE THE CIVIL WAR. Begins Gloomy With Rain; Ends in Beaming Sunshine. Alumni Day to Become a Fixture-Eminent Speakers Present-Two N. C. Governors Honored. This, the 112th annual Commence ment of the University, just passed, has been the most successful in the history of the institution. Although an unfortunate combination of decid edly unfavorable circumstances tended to give to its inception a rather gloomy aspect, the success with which the final exercises were carried off was sufficient to banish the shadow of the first two days entirely. The troubles of the occasion seemed overwhelming at the time. First, the non-arrival of the Rev. Clayton Sedg wick Cooper, of New York City, who was expected to conduct the opening exercises of Commencement Week by presiding at the dedication -of "the Young Men's Christian Association Building Friday night, put a damper on the expectations of' the students that might have remained throughout the Commencement season had it not been so happily offset by the reception in the rooms of the Association build ing that night. Then, the rain for two days it was unspeakable. For two days it poured, driving in sheets that forbade all of the outdoor exer cises on Saturday, Class Day, and working the ground into an oozy paste shoe-mouth deep. As one of the Seniors put it, "It looked like the Lord had it in for '07." For two days they were forced to dodge from shelter of this building to shelter of that, their gowns gathered up iu anything but a becoming manner, a procedure sorely trying to their dignity - During these days the attendance on the exercises was small and the pros pects seemed blue for this, which all had hoped to be a red letter Commen cement. However, after battling long with the clouds, the sun came out bright and clear on Tuesday, bringing I to the campus throngs which crowded the buildings to overflowing and crowning the week with a Commence ment Day the like of which has never been seen before ,at the University. Much of the success of Commencement Day proper was due to the presence of a larger number of Alumni than usual. Monday, Alurnni Day, was responsi ble for this increase in attendance. It was celebrated for the first time this year, and' with' such success that its institution as one of the main features of Commencement week has become assured. The large number of notable men in attendance on the closing exercises of ..the .session was also largely responsible for the success of the occasion. Among these were Governor R. B. Glenn, and ex-Gbvern- or Charles B. Aycock, upon both of whom was conferred the honorary de gree of Doctor of Laws, Hon. Charles Manly Steadman, Dr. Andrew F. West, Dean of the Graduate School of Princeton University, and Bishop Eu gene R. Hendrix, of Kansas City. In addition the size and strength of the graduating class added not a little. Sixty-five took their diplomas in the academic department alone, making the class of 1907 the largest that has graduated at the University since the Civil War. Besides, two graduates in law and live in pharmacy entered the ranks of the Alumni. All together the closing of the Com mencement program was so effective, and so entirely up to the expectations of those who had planned it, that its less satisfactory beginning was entire ly forgotten, just as the memory of the rain and mud of Saturday and Sunday was banished by the sunshine of Com mencement Day. Opening Reception At The Y. M. C. A. House A steady drizzling rain, adhesive mud, and a missed railway connection by the scheduled speaker of the even ing made up the set of unfortunate circumstances which rendered neces sary the postponement of the formal dedicatory services of the Y. M. C. A. building on Friday night of Com mencement week until Sunday night. Despite unfavorable circumstances, however, a reception was given in the new building, and in the enjoyment of the evening the foregone pleasures were lost sight of. No more fitting opening of the 112th Commencement of the University could have been devised than this reception in the building which was being turn ed over to the institution as the result of over ten years of ceaseless endeavor expended in the effort to secure a cen ter, both social and religious, for the University students. The building had been arranged for the occasion in the manner in which it had been originally planned to use it, the different rooms assigned to the different publications being fitted up as they are expected to remain in the future and the whole building be ing tastefully decorated with college and fraternity pennants. The whole building presented quite an attractive appearance, but one room in particular, the small one just above the entrance, which had been fitted up as an ideal college den, called forth universal praise. Credit for the handsome ap pearance of the house is due to the (Continued oa page 2.) CLASH OF 1907 HOLDS EXER CISES IN GERRARD HALL. Corner-stone of Library Laid The litter-society Banquet So ciety Reunions. Class Day, June 1, dawned dark and forbidding; the hand of Providence seemed still against the Seniors. Nev ertheless they began the closing exer cises of the class of 1907 regardless of adverse circumstances. At 9:30 in the morning, clad in the caps and gowns which were their insignia of honor during the season, they filed into Gor- rard Hall for the Senior prayer service, which was simply but impressively conducted by Dr. Thomas Hume. At 10:30 they returned to the hall for the class exercises. EXERCISES IN GEKRAKD HALL. These were opened by the address of welcome, delivered by Mr. J. J. Parker, of Monroe, the president of the class. Rarely does one hear a more thought ful speech from one of his age. The speaker was a member in his Junior year of the debating team which defeated Georgia and this spring helped to defeat Virginia. "The truly educated man," said Mr. Parker, "will be open-minded: he will be moral and he will be cultured. It is his duty to enter humanly into the life which. other men lead and make himself a leader of public opinion. Old North Carolina needs all the wisdom and all the devotion that educated men pos sess. She is confronted by the most complex problems that ever troubled the minds of men. "The first is to remove that hostility to foreign ideas and that opposition to corporate organization which threatens to wreck the industrial prosperity of the State. The second is the increas ing disregard for law. We began by lynching negroes guilty of the name less crime; we have ended by lynching a white man accused of murder, who was under the protection of the law, whose sanity was open to question, and about whose guilt a jury of his peers had disagreed. Third is the negro problem, which is, inrealitv, to live be side the negro in peace and friendship, to keep the blood of the white race free from corruption, while securing for the negro the opportunity to de velop every ppssibility with which the God of nature has endowed him." Mr. William H. Duls, of Wilmington read the class history, indicating the general transformations in the body of the organization and in the minds of the members. He reviewed the achiev ments of the class of 1907, the show ing being distinctly creditable. Then did the audience of fathers, mothers, sisters, and sweethearts listen acutely while Mr. Oscar Vernon Hicks, of prophetic gift, foretold the future of each of the graduates, beginning with himself, who fell first smitten by an arrow from the bow of mis chievous Cupid. Touching love dia logues between ladies of the future and Messrs, T.O'Berry and T. Sutton, respectively, were alleged to have come floating from behind the drawn cur tain. "J. J." proved an energetic (Continued on page 8.) SEVENTY-TWO GRADUATES IN CAP AND GOWN. Address by Dean West, of Prince ton University The Mangum Medal Contest. A. beaming sun brightened the cam pus for the final day of Commence ment week, Tuesday, June 4th, and from every direction the sturdy coun try folks poured in, while strawberry soda water began to flow in streams from the fountains of the town drug stores. Swain and sweetheart took possession of the campus, asfrom'lfime immemorial they have done, roaming at will and consuming vast quantities of candy, while off in Memorial Hall, the voices of the youthful orators thundered against its ancient walls. At 10:30 o'clock, headed by the 2nd Regiment Band of Richmond, the long procession started on its march from Alumni to Memorial Hall. First came the Seniors followed by Dr. Venable, with Governor Glenn, behind whom marched the members of the faculty, in striking costume, and the trustees. The formal exercises were opened by an impressive prayer by Rev. F. N. Skinner. After this President Ven able announced the subject of the theses by the candidates for different degrees. Next came the orations delivered in contest for the Mangum Medal, one of the most coveted of University hon ors. Mr. Roby Council Day spoke first on "The University Man and His Mis sion." Mr. Edwin McKoy Highsmith spoke on "The Southern Ideal of Citi zenship," followed by Mr. Stuart Grayson Noble, on "The Determining Forces of Modern Education." Mr. John J. Parker closed the contest with a speech on "Democracy, a New Un folding of the Power." Every speech was up to the high University standard, evidencing logi cal, original thought, and being de livered with fiery earnestness. After deliberation the judges, whose iden tities were not revealed, decided in favor of Mr. J. J. Parker, of Monroe. At this stage was presented Dr. An drew Fleming West, Ph. D., LL, D., D. D., dean of the graduate school of Princeton University, who delivered the commencement address. ADDRESS BY DEAN WEST. After an introductory reference to the close historical relation between the early founders of the University of North Carolina and Princeton, Dean West spoke in part as follows: "The American college is on trial. After a long and illustrious service to the country, it is now assailed in many quarters. This is due to many causes, but chiefly to the swift recent growth of the industrial and commercial spir it. The practical spirit of our peo ple has achieved marvels. Perhaps the whole period of recorded history shows no greater increase of material wealth and industrial activity in any generation than America has shown and is still showing in our own time. "The practical' spirit which settled our Atlantic coast pierced to the West- (Oontinued on page 3.) ii
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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June 13, 1907, edition 1
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