alumni ship

MASEFIELD was addressing himself to the subject of universities. "They give to the young in their impressionable years the bond of a lofty purpose shared," he said; "of a great corporate life whose links will not be loosed until they die."

The links that unite alumni with each other and with their alma mater are difficult to define. But every alumnus and alumna knows they exist, as surely as do the campus's lofty spires and the ageless dedication of educated men and women to the process of keeping themselves and their children intellectually alive.

Once one has caught the spirit of learning, of truth, of probing into the undiscovered and unknown—the spirit of his alma mater—one does not really lose it, for as long as one lives. As life proceeds, the daily mechanics of living—of job-holding, of family-rearing, of mortgagepaying, of lawn-cutting, of meal-cooking—sometimes are tedious. But for them who have known the spirit of intellectual adventure and conquest, there is the bond of the lofty purpose shared, of the great corporate life whose links will not be loosed until they die.

This would be the true meaning of alumni-ship, were there such a word. It is the reasoning behind the great service that alumni give to education. It is the reason alma maters can call upon their alumni for responsible support of all kinds, with confidence that the responsibility will be well met.