Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

C A MIMS MI R R 0 R )vy Oration AGATHA ALFKEIDA JONES It is time for us to depart from our beloved Alma Mater, but we are not making our departure empty-handed or without rich possessions. We will have a chest laden with our inherit ance. We are carrying away something intangible which we have taken consciously and uncon sciously from our present environment for the pa I four years. In our treasure chest we will carry with us the important ideals which have forme I. and sldl form, the nucleus of Spelman College. Such ideals are loyally to our school, our friends and ourselves; honesty to ourselves and every one else; respect for individual differences or personality; spiritual values; the virtue of patience; and the power and importance of kindness and unselfishness. These ideals we will not keep unused in an air-tight chest, hut we will cling to them, even as the ivy clings tightly to our beautiful edifices, and they will steer us daily through a labyrinth of hindrances, when we face life in this world of insecurity. In addition to our ideals, which are a part of our liberal education, we will constantly and more specifically keep in mind the aim of education, the importance of the development of inquisitive atti tudes towards new ideas, subjects, and experiences, and the significant utilization of our knowledge for the benefit of others. I here are varied view's of education, hut most people agree that it is more than book-learning. 1 he educational philosophy of both Rabelais and Montaigne was democratic; hut while the former believed that one should have a well-filled head, the latter thought that a well-made head was the essential key to education. That is, Montaigne believed that one should develop a mind which is capable of discriminating, correlating, and evaluating experience; as opposed to Rabelais’ ideal of a mere accumulation of knowledge. We do not deny that our heads have been well-filled during our four-year stay here, but it is only natural that w'e shall not retain every minute detail after our departure. We believe, as did Montaigne, that the true aim of education should he the training of one’s judgment, which our instructors have so patiently and diligently attempted to help us to do. Hence, our test comes when we are to demontsrate whether we have a head well-filled with a conglomeration of mere information, or a well-made head with a critical and highly analytical mind; that is, whether we support our convictions, even though we stand alone, or abandon them: whether we are aw'are of the ideals mentioned heretofore, or go through life in an apathetic fog: whether we have have well-defined purposes and are striving to achieve them, or, like Carlyle’s man, are without a purpose and so like a ship without a rudder. This is the challenge we, the seniors, face. We do not want our well-made heads nor our principles marred by negative attitudes. Thus, we avoid the cloak of indifference. A feeling of indifference has no place among us and if any one of us has been so unfortunate as to possess it, let her banish it here and now. Indifference is a sign of immaturity, and the individual who pretends to he indifferent is simply exhibiting a form of ostentatious compensation for some fact he refuses to face and adjust to. A person with this type of unwholesome attitude misses and refuses to accept many things that happen around him, which would he pertinent to his growth of maturity and intellect. Look at the ivy; it has an extensive power and it never tires of grasping and entwining everything within its reach. Therefore, may we, too. grasp all knowledge that comes our way, and use our well-made heads to determine what we should retain. On the other hand, we will not allow knowledge to become an insatiable obsession with us. as it was with Dr. f austus. We will not consider it, nor will we use it, as a means of accomplishing selfish and materialistic purposes, for we know that it is in giving, not in seeking gifts that we find our rewards. From our beloved Spelman and her high ideals we have received strengthening spir itual and intellectual development. Therefore, regardless of the obstacles which we encounter, we owe it to the founders, to our president, to Spelman, and to ourselves to share our knowlegde with those who are less fortunate than we. As the great scientist, Albert Einstein, has so well said: “Only a life lived for others is a life worth while. Now may Miss Read, our president and honorary sister, with her example of a Christ-like life lived for others, and the emblem of the ivy, serve as a compass to guide us in our ventures through life.