EMPHASIS ON CONSTRUCTIVE THOUGHT

Upon the generation of men now in American colleges it devolves to capitalize the opportunity offered. The period now passing will prove to have been a blessing in disguise if release from the bondage of habit and convention are utilized for the reestablishing of in- dispensable authorities of life upon bases which will not crumble so easily as did those existent before. About such authorities must be reared the structures of organization and the patterns of definition which shall sympathetically support them and intelligently signify them. It is, moreover, a time when man's welfare demands stability, not an inert, passive stability, but a dynamic stability from which shall radiate the impulse to order and the stimulus of power. It is a time when man's welfare requires that emphasis be put on constructive thought.

So, Men of Dartmouth, let us in this brief lull in the activities of busy days safeguard this ceremony against being an empty form! Let us pause for a moment to ask ourselves how genuine is our desire to scale the ramparts of knowledge and to earn place for ourselves in the pleasant fields of culture! Let us consider what is the habit of mind to which we are willing to commit ourselves!