Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-06-01

AN OLD tradition, so old that not even
the war can shake it. was faithfully OBJ.
served when it rained at Haverford on
Commencement Day. But it would take
more than rain to daunt the spirits of
the keyboard of his typewriter, observing in
his unobtrusive way the delights of green
campus. 1t is we'll to know that even In
the thunder and terror of the present day
there are still these quiet islands where
youth may continue the eager pastime Of
trying to throw salt on the tailfeathers Of
Truth
Colleges try to be as kind as possible to
their seniors on graduation day. Many
pleasant form Of words is devised to con-
ceal from these luckless young men the
bitter fact that a week or so later they will
be working for their living.
As we watched President Comfort, of
Haverford, awarding diplomas to his grad
yates with the customary and humorous
phrase, Il confer upon you the degree of
Bachelor OF Arts, with all the rights and
privileges pertaining thereto" we could
not help wondering just what those privi.
leges are.
The possession of the diploma is no
longer the mystic sacred dignity that it
once was. This is not the Middle Ages,
when merchants and drivers of motortrucks
Undated themselves wnen they met a
learned Bachelor on the street. The bac-
calaureate diploma conveys no social rank;
it cannot even be exchanged for commu-
tation ticket. And nowadays, We think, the
young graduate no longer bothers to have
it framed in gilded walnut to hang in the
parlor. He spends his money on thrift
stamps instead.
And yet that diploma still symbolizes a
very precious privilege indeed, and 1t is
we'll that our young Bachelors Of Arts and
of Sciences should understand it. The
privileges pertaining thereto" lie behind
the parchment, not in front of 1t. They are
in the past, not in the future. They are
completed, not just beginning.
The privilege of the diploma is that of
having been allowed to work for it, OF
the ordinary responsibilities of mankind;
of having enjoyed a serene and care,free
apprenticeship in the difficult art of living.
The privilege of undistracted opportu,
nifty to make an acquaintance with the
thoughts Of great teachers; of having
viewed (even from a distancel the great
and shining edifice of systematic specula-
ton that men have reared despite the
laughter of Time.
The most satisfactory college education
is one that so influences a man that after
he has been ten years Tor twenty years, or
thirty years. out of college. he feels him
self just reaching the point where he could
really benefit by the college courses. In
other words. a college education, like most
other things in life, is cherished not so
much for what 1t gives US as for what It
might have given.
Even the Kaiser, you may have noticed,
feels that he might have got more out of
militarism il he had gone into it more thor.
oughly. He says he will do better next
time That is very healthy frame of
mind. but. unfortunately, in the Kaiser's
case II is directed to wrong end.
Young men and women of the gradual.
ploy you. salutes yout,sYoY has had your,
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