Page 50 - 1920 Hartridge
P. 50
Commencement
Last year our graduation exercises were held Friday, the sixth of June. The graduates Avere Anna Frazar, Dorothy Frost, Ethelwyn Gam ble, Margery Meigs, ^drginia Merrill, Frances Miller, Grace Rohinson,
Catherine Stockwell, and Margaret Taylor—girls who had done much for the school, and whose going was to be greatly regretted by us all.
d'here was a hushed silence as the graduates, looking more serious than we had been accustomed to see them, marched solemnly down one aisle
and up a few steps to the platform. Following them came the faculty in
caps and gowns, and Dr. John Moment, who was to make the Commence
ment address.
Then Dr. Moment offered a short prayer, which was followed by
the singing of the hymn which begins, “ Oh, worship the King, all glorious above !’’ At the close of the hymn Dr. Moment made his address. It was the first time he had ever spoken at the school, and his wit and informality
came as a surprise to many of us. His address (although some of the audi ence may have found it a triHe personal) was both pertinent and charming.
At the close of his address Miss Hartridge said a few words to the graduating class.
Members of the Class of 1 9 1 9 : From time immemorial every race of the world, perhaps every man in the world, has craved, or demanded, or obtained freedom—-freedom as he un derstands it. All history is Idled, all literature is filled with the records of man’s attempt to attain his desire.
In the upheaval of the past five years, in the realization of the disaster caused by Germany’s determination to overpower Europe, great thinkers began to believe that the real freedom of
all peoples, not only of the weak and down-trodden races, but of the German people themselves, was essential to the peace of the world. It seems clear that without freedom we cannot hope
for peace, or without peace for freedom; that when we look Into present conditions we realize that to different minds the
42
%L.