The Athenaeum. (Atlanta, GA) 1898-1925, February 01, 1924, Image 18

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

114 THE ATHENAEUM t & X X Editorials WHAT DO WE GET OUT OF IT? rpHE students of Morehouse College have on a drive for two thou- 1 sand dollars. The money is to be used in building a much need ed library for the school. To date they have been successful in rais ing only sixty-three dollars and, thirty-five cents-—just about enough to buy the front door. One department when asked to co-operate with the drive wanted to know “What do we get out of it? Indeed Morehouse is rendering a great service to our people in the South. It is a sad plight for' Negroes to have as leaders! men who are immersed in emotions and clothed in ignorance. But let us not get a-field. There is no department at the Col lege which would not be benefited if < privileged to frequently enjoy “feasting at the storehouse of knowledge.” This stupendous task must be put over. The printed page is a powerful force of enlighten ment. There can be no intellectual tenets brought to bear which, would alter this fact. The occasions about us are new! Yea, new in an alarming, un precedented degree. We are not asking for new togs for the foot ball team, nor for our teams to invade new territory to demon strate their prowess. Two thousand dollars would be a joke to put over such a project, and, yet we give ourselves the pat and say we are “earnest seekers after knowledge.” Too long have we reeled and rocked in self praise while our teams strode giant-like through the enemies lines, took the arts of fish and bird, and sweeping aside the tumultous mandates of the enemy, fought through the pathless ether into the heights of fame. The need for a library has long been in evidence at the College. Our teachers have, to a large extent, been handicapped and have not been able to make assignments for extensive collateral reading.. It is a general need, and can be shared alike by all departments. It is the laboratory for all courses. Yet, there are students who question the necessity of a college! library. Since human face first made its ap pearance, and man cherished faith for a better day, at no time, through all the weary, agonistic stretches of ignorance and barbaric strife to ward awakening, have the College students of my race cried louder for knowledge. Now is the time for us to struggle, struggle* keep on struggling; and by fighting our way to the front, render this an artistic and scientific civilization for the Negro. Come! Morehouse men, let us huddle together. We, who are able to make mountain tops vocal and wayside bushes significant, must lead the way. The drive has been extended to the eleventh day of April. Where is the- man to be found who wont give ear to the College song, and the College slogan “All for one, and one for