Colby College Digital Commons @ Colby Colby Alumnus Colby College Archives 1971 Colby Alumnus Vol. 60, No. 1: Fall 1970 Colby College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/alumnus Part of the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Colby College, "Colby Alumnus Vol. 60, No. 1: Fall 1970" (1971). Colby Alumnus. 72. https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/alumnus/72 This Other is brought to you for free and open access by the Colby College Archives at Digital Commons @ Colby. It has been accepted for inclusion in Colby Alumnus by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Colby. COLBY COLLEGE LIBRARY Waterville, Maine 0 The Issue Fall 1970 f/111111·111111111g . I ht· \H·tkc11d l11lo11gC'd to J. li1·el)e ancl \f,11\ Bi,ln, .111d \\ould h,t\L t\tll if tile footli.dl 1l·:1m h.tcl llJ"t'l tilt· mo.,l powtilttl Bowdo111 'lf"·'d i11 lll< lll\ a )l':1r. (l L Ill.II I) did.) I he pH·,ide11t t•111t·1 itm .111cl hi., wife were ho1101ecl 011 Colin l'\1g ht. .111d 1c,po11dul ''ith the w.umth, chatm :t11cl wit whith d1.11';1ttc111ccl the 18 \it.ti Bl\.kr )Car� at Colb)- (Pages 1-3) The /5Jul cl11.11 a11it•1·1 .. I'rt�idc11t .Strider, in his tradi­ tional aclcln·.,� lo f1c.,hmu1 011 tlwi1 f11.,t cl.n 011 c.tmpus. <lb- c m�td ,..-h:1l the tollege "ffu., .111cl \\h.1t <.111 be C\.pectcd of '>tudt•11L-.: i11tl'llcctu:tl ch.tllu1gl. \Oti.tl ad.1ptil1ilit) .•1 rc'>pect fot Colb) ·, hcrit.1gc .. 111d .1 \l'lht' of decorum and humor. Humilit\ .111d .1 1e;tli1.1tio11 th.it .ill gt 11cr:1l1011'> hold peace, jmtitc and libert\ dc.11 will help �mt.1in the fte'>hmen dur­ i 11g the 11e:-..t four ) cat'· thc prc�iden t suggested. 'Clul!' lo th1· n/.:!_I'' ... l'iofc·.,.,or Do11.1lcf.,011 Koom, chair­ man of the gc:olog) dcp:1rtmc:11l, i.,11·1 Hire about the future of our world. But "' tt«lt her, a ftt•r-d111 m-r \pe.1 kc.:r and d1airma11 of ;\l.tine\ powL·1ful bl\i1011me11t.d Jmprcl\cment Commi,.,io11. tlm Int'>) '>tiu1ti.,t \how., .1 f.1ith in ma11' ability to 1Hl''ll'l\l' the e11,iro11mt·nt. 111 an inteniew (pag'(:S fi-9), l'rofc.,.,or Koon, talk� about thc root!> of the pollution prob­ lem and �ugge>L> th.it tht· a11\wc:r i� IJeLU:r edu(ation - at Colby and ebewhet e. Georgl' F.<l1111111d ll'lrn/011 . The collq.;c was saddened ·witJ1 tltc pa �i11g 011 Sept. 1 I of a man who won the respect of the c11ti1e \\'.iten ille commu11ity during 15 years as superin­ tcndc.:nl of building'> and grounds. Tributes from the com­ munity an<l President Strider's eulogy are on page io. Cul/Jy in tlir 11rwf ...•.\ wide range of e,·ents kept the col­ lcgT in tlte new� during the autumn weeks (pages 11-1 3): appointment of a bo.ud of tnt'>tces committee to explore the Cu/by Echo'� rclatioll'>hip lo the college following pub­ lication of an i '>lie (Ontaining material of questionable ta�te: e�tabli'>hment of a Gl'orgc F. Bakn Trml .,d1ola1 hip prog1am: and :1ppointmt·nh and aw,ucb i11\ohing the farnlt y. Pliotograpliy CO\cr, Howard Gra): 1-5. 12 and 15, Irving Faun(e 'G9; 6 and 1.J, :-.li<.hael H�l\ey '73: 10, Earl Smith. THE COLBY ALU�fNUS vo/11111e 60 11 wn brr 1 Editorial board: David C. Langzeuel, editor; Donald E. Sanborn Jr . Rid1ard N. Dyer. Bu inc� manager: Sidney \V. Farr '55. Letters and inquiries should be sent to the editor; change of addres� notification to the alumni office. Published quarteily (fall, winter, spring, summer) by Colby College. Entered as second-class mail at Watcnillc, l\Iaine 04901. I remember well my first personal contact as a teacher on the campus . I was leaYing my classes in the morning, walking ... through the mud, through the rain. And someone came along­ side me, put his arm around me and said, 'Roney, how are things progressing?' I looked up ... and saw that it was the president Ralph S. Williams '35 of the college .... The reason I speak of it is because it epitomizes nislraliYe Vice President one of Dr. I3ixler's most important personal characteristics - October 23, 1970 his humaneness, his warmth, his unfailing regard for others, his ability to communicate and cheer up eYen the bottom member of the faculty totem pole .... Recognition this Colby Night of Dr. and i\1rs.Bixler is richly deserYed. Colby lin.1 11//rartr•d 11w11ry IJl'C(J111e Bixler has [!,iven tit<' 111111/1111 111tdlr·1/11nl to11r'. Alont!, wilh booslin� lite 1111ri111/11111, 11010{;/y 111 jJ!tilosojJ!ty 1111d religion, he l111111rl1cd art 1111d 11111s1r dcjJnr/111t•11/1. /fr fostered a 'n('(//111r· tlii11/u11g' «J11Y.ll'.. /fr 11irred Llie school lo 1/111/ 11 11 ltolarly 111ugnz.11u', Lo jJ011dn a 'book of the )'l'11r.' . 1 fr .!!..of Cu/by tu gwl' T /' < 011ne.1 for credit to 111rn/ i•iewcn, 111rl(lf' tltf' 1r/1ool n .111 m111er lelller for nd11/1 ed11((1/11m. ... ,\fore '111/('/frrtual curiosity' is 111·11• hn11/1·111 .\111drr'1 <11111. It would not have been /w111/J/c if Colby l111d 1111/ r11r·11 to lite quality of ]. Homecoming .')(·dye nl\ /er. Ten )Car-. ha'e pa-.)ed )ince Tnne magaLine marked Dedicated the n:tirement ol the man who for 18 )Car wa the dri' ing lone behind .1 ma��i\'e ph)�ical de,elopment to the Bixlers dlort and the wclhpring of that "imelle tual tone." The alumni 'ho e thi� anni,er)ar) )ear to recogniLe Colb) \ coming-of-age b) dedicating Colb) night to J. Sccl)e and �lary Bi'.\.lcr. The clima. of the annual dinner wa., expected to on ist of tribute� to the Bix­ ler and pre)entation of lumni Council gifts. 'ot wrpri'>ingl), the honor gue t� up taged the principal wcll-wi:.hcr� with their gradou nes an<l unmi Lakable appreciation. ,\nd there wa ome harming an<l time- 1) Secl)e Bi. lcr: "You know the m<1n who got a liule flu Lered and said on an octa\ion like thi , '1 certainly don't appre­ ciate thi�. but I tenainl) do tie ene it.' \\'ell, I do the app1etiating an<l m> wife does the de erving .... "I think the alumni reall) ha\e it in their hand to how how the college can continue thi ba ic tradi­ tion of �en e of mi ion ·whi h i o important in the e changing time in .,.,•hich the e tudenl will learn. I think our campu trouble� are not o much a revolt agaimt edut:Hion .. but rebellion against the in­ equitie of our �ociet). nd we\·e got LO change o­ ciet), .. not onl) by the working ol Lhe ocial cau e ·, but by helping this rnllege to be devoted to truth and al the ame time, an in trument for ocial reform." Vice Pre iclent Williams, a ociate and friend of the Bixler for o many year , paid tribute lo their ac­ compli�hrnenls and pre ented the gilt : a Colby clock, an armchair for Irs. Bixler, an athletic jacket with Colby "C" and a bound book of per onal letter di­ Virr President rected to Dr. and Ir·. Bixler. The pre ident­ Williams emeritus donned the jacket immediately and proudly 2 wore it to the homecoming game with Bowdoin. The "Williams tribute included an anecdote about the president as he approached the home of a wealthy man with no Colby connections seeking financial help for the college. "Dr. Bixler introduced himself red­ faced and said, 'Sir, I'm going to blurt this out and then go along. I came here to ask for a gift to Colby College.' The man put his arm on Dr. Bixler's shoulder and said, '\\ hy of course, would $10,000 be helpful to Colby? All right, now come clown and meet my guests.' ...af ter that Dr. Bixler was a tiger in raising money. Thus, you can ee that the marriage of a philosopher-theologian and the crass materialist is not impossible of attainment. Recognition this Colby Night of Dr. and i\Irs. Bixler is richly deser\'ed. Many of us present o"·e far more than we will ever be able to repay." In remarks following the presentation, President Strider noted that the Bixlers, with travel and lectures, still are "busier than many of us who regard ourselves as having full-time jobs. "And you go t me started on this dubious path," President Strider remarked, "during a decade when the course that American higher education has taken has been very different from what it was while you were president.. But the excitement you generated in me when I first came to talk to you about Colby has never abated .... You have always bolstered me up with your encouraging remarks. "Because of the fact that Seelye Bixler imbued me with the spirit of what Colby meant to him and what it has meant to generations of Colby alumni before, I became aware, even in my \\"Orst moments, ol the po­ tentialit of this institution for excellence over the years, building on what he helped us achieve ...and what his predecessors had started.