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CAMPUS MIRROR^
Published During the College Year by the Students of Spelman College, Atlanta. Georgia
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Volume X April 15, 1934 Numbfr 7
The National Association of
College Women
The National Association of College
Women had its eleventh annual convention
in Atlanta from March 30 to April 2, as an
nounced in the last issue of the Mirror. The
meetings on Friday afternoon and Saturday
morning were devoted to the business of the
convention. On Saturday noon a luncheon
was provided in Morgan Hall, Spelman Col
lege, by the Atlanta Branch of the Associa
tion for its guests and other interested per
sons.
The speakers at the luncheon were Presi
dent Florence M. Read, of Spelman College,
and Dean Lucy I). Slowe of Howard Uni
versity. In her speech on “The Lures of
Education”, Miss Read directed attention to
various kinds of lures and the way they af
fect. persons by blinding them to the real
and solid values of education. One of these
lures is novelty. She suggested in this con
nection that if novelty is the only quality
which a thing has to recommend it, it cannot
be worth accepting. In addition to false
standards and superficalitv, Miss Read
named the lure of imitation which an indi
vidual or institution would do well to guard
against. Her illustration on this point was
humorous. Being invited to dine with a
friend one evening, the speaker and her com
panion were alarmed at the appearance of
a salad which was made in imitation of a
golf court. The looks of the thing tended
to make one forget that it was to he eaten.
With her experience in educational institu
tions, Miss Read felt these things to be im
portant matters of consideration.
Dean Slowe spoke on “The College Wom
an and Her Civic Responsibility.” Going
straight to the point, Miss Slowe called at
tention to tin* fact that when young women
leave their homes tor a college campus, one
would expect that they would no longer have
everything planned for them. She mentioned
here that on Commencement Day people
seem to expect the graduates to change sud
denly from children to grown-ups with good
.judgment, and the ability to make decisions
and to take responsibility as citizens. How
can they learn to do this except by doing
it while they are in college and under com
petent guidanceT If students are to have
walls built around them for what is meant
to be protection, those who guide them will
never know what they would do or how thev
would react under any given situation. The
social life of the student is the only part
of her college life in which -lie has the op
portunity t<> show >omo initiative; therefore
she should he allowed fo take advantage of
this opportunity; for it is the inability to
make decisions for the right use of one’s
(Continued on Page 5)
A Precious Gift, The Grover-
Werden Fountain
As T sit and watch the host of pigeons
hovering around the Grover-Werden Memo-
orial Fountain and note what an essential
part of the institution it has become for re
freshing all who come to it, I wonder what
Spelman could possibly do without it.
Eight years ago the spot where the foun
tain stands was a barren plot of ground
with less shade than now, and the only place
where drinking water could be procured
was in the basement of Packard Hall where
water was supplied from a large water cool
er. V hen the campus was hot, dusty and
dry, students and teachers were seen coming
to the water cooler which stood just outside
the west door of the Post Office room.
Spelman alumnae were fewer then than
now, but they were active and loyal as alum
nae could he. They realized the worth of
the rich gifts Spelman had received and
were eager to show their interest and grati
tude by an alumnae gift which would be of
real comfort to the students coming after
them. Realizing the need of a fountain,
Mrs. Gertrude Fisher-Anderson encouraged
the women to raise a fund to build a foun
tain in the most convenient spot on the
campus. I'lie undertaking was enthusiasti
cally received and before long the fountain
was completed. The dedication took place
on Class Day of 1!I27.
An interested crowd was gathered around
the fountain as this first great effort of
Spelman Alumnae was crowned. Such dis
tinguished alumnae as Miss Clara Howard,
Miss Lilian B. Softies, Mrs. Hattie R. Wat
son, Mrs. Gertrude Fisher-Anderson, and
Mrs. Minnie I<ee Brown took part in the
dedicatory exercises and tin* gift was proud
ly accepted by Miss Lucy Hale Tapley.
And here stands the fountain as a inemo-
Miss Mary B. Brady
The Founders’ Day speaker, Miss Mary
B. Brady, executive official of the
Harmon Foundation, made a very deep im
pression on the Spelman community. Her
talks, linked so closely as they were with
her personal experience, were the kind which
most students appreciate. In paying her
tribute to the founders of this college, Miss
Packard and Miss Giles, she observed that
it must have taken a great deal of imagina
tion and effort on the part of those women
who had so little money to balance their
hopes for this institution which is now tak
ing an important place in the educational
life of the country. This observation linked
up well with the three factors which the
speaker lias found are of extreme import
ance to one’s development of the ability to
find the true relations between theory and
practice. These factors are imagination,
self-help, and beauty.
In connection with the first factor, imag
ination, Miss Brady trod on very famiilar
ground in telling of the young women who
could find any amount of material on a
given subject, but had no sense of organiza
tion, no imagination to make a creation of
her own. It is on her imagination that a
student depends to help her see opportuni
ties for putting to the best use possible the
things she has learned in college. This flex
ibility of mind should be one of the results
c-f college training.
These thoughts led naturally to the mat
ter of self-help, which implies independence.
Miss Brady linked imagination and indepen
dence together, a very logical procedure;
tor it is only when one uses his mind
through his imagination that he is indepen
dent and escapes the class which Miss Brady
calls “the lamp-post-leaners.” Everyone
knows that a lamp-post-leanor dot's not make
a very preposessing appearance. The speak
er laid great stress on the importance of
ones personal appearance. Such things as
one’s facial expression in repose, the ar
rangement of the hair, one’s carriage and
poise—or lack of it, are certainly matters
of importance to one’s possible emplover.
Responsibility is another round in the
ladder ot self-help. Here again imagination
is required to grasp opportunities for assum-
(Continued on Rage 2)
rial to tilt* two beloved teachers, Miss Grover
and Miss Werden, who had inspired such
ideas ot helpfulness in Spelman students;
and it is also a challenge from the alumnae
betore 1327 to every Spelman student who
comes along these shady walks to drink, to
every one who can tool a noble challenge
to her own nobility and loyalty. l>et us
drink and think and be Idled with grati
tude.