Hanover College Triangle

Personal Narratives, 1960-1966

The following are personal narratives selected from articles in the Triangle  to illustrate life at Hanover in the 1960s.




Hal Bean, "Reply to Bontrager," Hanover College Triangle, 30 Sept. 1960, 2.

Letter to the Editor:
As a freshman I participated in the freshman-sophomore get-together a week ago last Tuesday.  I use the word get-together because it certainly implies the idea and spirit of our meeting much better than what Mr. Bontrager has called "hazing."

This was a get-together to instill a little spirit into our class, and as any sophomore or freshman will tell you, that was the main emphasis in the meeting.  Sure, we saw paddles, but we knew they were only for looks.   When we came to Hanover we knew that the paddle or any other means of hazing was forbidden.

At no time since have we been intimidated by any upperclassmen.  I think just this fact alone shoots all sorts of holes in Mr. Bontrager's little article.

I think Dave Healey put a good idea across in his article to the campus!  The meeting we had last week certainly did not hurt.

Our class shouted last Saturday along with the sophomore class.  We tried to help our team in the only way we could - - SUPPORT!  One thing we were noticeably missing, however, was the support of Mr. Bontrager's class.  I think you should criticize only when you can do better.

I am writing this letter as a proud member of a proud freshman class.

Sincerely,

Hal Bean

 



Suzanne Eagleston, "Overemphasis of Grades," Hanover College Triangle, 21 Oct. 1960, 3.

To the students and faculty of Hanover College:

I would like to make several comments in connection with Dr. Wheater's speech in assembly Monday. His topic, "Don't Let Grades Interfere With Your Education" is one which is pertinent not only because of the growing importance which is being placed on grades by teachers, students, and parents, but also because of the self-study project which is now being conducted and which could improve this worsening situation.

I say "worsening situation" because I feel that the policy of regular six-weeks tests is deplorable and only encourages students to place more importance on getting a good grade rather than on understanding the subject.

I AM NOT condemning the tests, for they are needed by teachers as a measure of pupils' knowledge, rather I am condemning the policy of scheduling tests just to be having them.  Exams should be given over units or divisions of the subject matter - - not because a certain period of  time has passed since the last test.

In many courses final grades seem to be based almost wholly upon test grades with little consideration in overall understanding and knowledge of the subject.  Too often these tests are only a measure of a student's memory or of how well a student was able to out-guess his professor concerning which questions will be asked on the exam.  Students and teachers are equally responsible for this unfortunate situation.

Whenever possible teachers should try to give exams which are fair basis of a student's knowledge and understanding of the course.  Teachers should consider it their responsibility to see to it that they make the subject interesting and challenging for their pupils.  Students cannot be expected to take an interest in some subject which their professor seems to be bored with.

Once students are interested in a subject and motivation is kept at a high level, the importance of grades will diminish and real learning will take its place.

Certainly these are only a few of the possible solutions to a very complex problem in education today, but I do feel that they are important ones, which, if put into effect, could change the growing tendency toward emphasis on grades rather than education.

Sincerely,

Suzanne Eagleston 


 


Robb Baker, "Writers Question Christian Values," Hanover College Triangle, 30 Mar. 1962, 2.

Dear Editor,

On the evening of Saturday, March 24, 1962, a Hanover student and her boyfriend from home were refused service in a local drug store in Madison because of their race.

This girl is a student of Hanover College and is therefore entitled to all rights that any other student of Hanover is entitled to.  What happened is an injustice to a member of the Hanover family and thus, an insult to every Hanover student.

It is my hope that this newspaper, the Hanover students' most important voice, will print this letter and that Hanover students will seriously consider whether or not (if the situation is not remedied) they wish to do business with an establishment where a white skin is a prerequiste for buying a soda and where one of their fellow students was recently humiliated in front of a guest.

Thank you,

Robb Baker





Fred Fish, "It's Hard Not to Quit," Hanover College Triangle, 13 Oct. 1962, 4.

"My face was in the mud.  From my position the outlook was not bright, it wasn't even dim, I wondered whether to get up -- for I knew I'd be kicked back down.  But I got up.  I got up in time to see my buddy pushed into the ground, and I felt compassion and then pride as he crawled up, spit, and snarled, 'We'll knock 'em apart on the next one.'" 

I was encouraged, yet I knew he was wrong.  We wouldn't rack them the next time or any other time.  We'd get licked -- I knew it; and what was even worse, my buddy knew it -- but he pretended.  He was kidding me -- or maybe himself.  But there's no shame in getting beat by someone better than us.  They were better than us -- weren't they?  At least I thought they were." 

"Remarkably, in spite of our realism, we played on.  It was the kind of game I had to think up a new stimulus after each play.  Woody Hayes says there nothing without victory. But he's wrong, he couldn't be right.  I prayed to God he wasn't right.  Anybody can find desire if he's winning.  It takes raw courage to respond to defeat -- doesn't it?

Fight! Fight! Fight!

"I was on my back again.  I could hear 'Kennedy's soft Americans' screaming, 'Fight! Fight! Fight!'  What the hell did they know about fighting?  The only line they ever fought was the one to the popcorn stand." 
"Everybody plays to win.  Yet there must be something greater than victory.  One is no less great if he gives his all, but loses.  I play for love of sport.  That's the important thing -- isn't it?"

"The end was near, and I could read the print in the sports column where that idiot says, "Never have so many blocked so little or tackled so few.  I'd like to see him behind a tackle, instead of that pencil." 

"When one is consistently beaten into the dirt, it's not easy to repress the urge to quit.  But there is an inner pride that prods one on."

"The ball was centered and the lines charged. From my position, flat on my back, beneath the pile, I was in ideal position to hear somebody's ankle snap.  When the pile unsnarled, I looked around and discovered I was the only one on the ground. 

"I'd been hoping all game I'd find a reason for playing.  But now I had an excuse.  At least I hadn't quit on the field -- had I?"



Sue Kuc, "Etc.," Hanover College Triangle, 4 Oct. 1963, 4.

College is rough, regardless of how you add it up, the answer generally comes out the same.  Keeping up in three classes, each of which requires a thirty-page reading assignment every day, is in itself bad enough, and when exams come around, the going really gets rough.

With the exception of students who have taken three years of a langauge in high school, fudge a litte on the placement test, and end up in a first year class that requires little effort, college students are finding that making the grade often results in headaches, writers' cramp, tired eyes and lack of sleep.  Thus, college becomes something to be merely endured until it is completed and the student can go on to other (easier) things.

Well, friends, those of you who are presently "enduring" and are planning to go on to grad school have another surprise coming.  It seems that life after college isn't any easier.

Fred Kuemmerle, a 1963 Hanover graduate, is presently a freshman in the University of Cincinnati's College of Medicine.  While he studied at Hanover, this guy was hardly an "endurer."  Besides graduating with approximately a 3.3 average, Fred managed to keep himself busy by working as a biology lab assistant, being Senior Class treasurer, and serving his fraternity in several offices.  He knew the feeling of being rushed, tired, endlessly busy, etc, etc.

Having been in classes at U. C. for two weeks, Fred writes, ". . . let me tell you I never thought school could be so hard.  They cover so much material each day it's almost impossible to keep up.  It's like having a final exam every day.  I haven't been to bed before 1 or 2 a. m. any day this week."  He continues, writing about his cadaver.  "We've covered the whole back, its muscles, veins, arteries, nerves etc., already and have an oral exam over our dissection on Wednesday.  I'm scared to death!  Hope I pass."

All this after only two weeks of classes!

Anyone care to go to the library with me tonight???
Henry Hamman, "Greenies Grasp College Ways," Hanover College Triangle, 18 Sept. 1964, 3.

Arriving on the campus, I was struck by how similar, in many ways, hanover is to the private school I attended last year.  The dorms and the campus seemed much the same.  However, as soon as I started registering for a room, I saw that things were not at all the same.

Where I was used to confusion, things ran smoothly.  And, after years of "Southern Hospitality," it was a revelation to me that people could be so friendly and helpful.  I had half expected that the upperclassmen would take a sort of sadistic pleasure in confusing the new freshmen, but this type of activity seems to be passe here.

Having visited and lived on several other college and university campuses, I had formed the opinion that college students looked on life with a rather blase, pseudo-sophisticated view.  Again, I was wrong.  The people on the campus seem to be excited with the prospect of learning, and interested by all the world.

To point up this awaredness of the world, the first meeting of the forensics group seems typical.  The meeting started out as a discussion of the various types of debate activities, but was soon an active discussion of politics, especially on the national scene.  Almost everyone had an opinion, and aired it well and reasonably.  To one used to the provincial outlook of most high school students, interested only in things concerning them immediately, this was a great and welcome change.

In a different area, the reading requirements of my classes were rather startling.  I had heard that in college one would read more than in high school.  However, when I bought my books for the first time, I was, at the least, surprised to find that I would be expected to read as much in the first fourteen weeks as for my whole senior year in high school, while I was carrying six solid subjects.

All these things impressed me greatly, but the thing that stands out in my mind as the most important difference between high school and Hanover is the complete reversal of concern on the part of the college for the student.  In high school, you either do as you are told, and are suitably rewarded, or you disobey and are scolded -- so to speak.  The whole atmosphere of high school is dependent on this paternal attitude toward the student.

However, here at Hanover, one is told, "You are an adult, and are expected to act as one."  No one tells you to study, to be well behaved, or even to go to class.  It is expected of you.  Here, if you act in an adult manner, no one will question your individual actions.  If you cannot accept the responsibility, you leave.  It is simple but quite a shock.

As I read over what I have written, I realize that it is in essence the same thing that I have read and heard for the last four years.  But when I heard it before, there was an air of unreality about it.  Now I know that it is all true.




Sue Baum, "Greenies Grasp College Ways," Hanover College Triangle, 18 Sept. 1964, 3.

Upon looking back on my first day at Hanover, I am plagued by memories of long lines and the terrible sensation of thousands of butterflies going wild in my stomach.

I also recall having the feeling that I was being fleeced when I reached the end of the first of many long lines, but of course this was done in the friendly Hanover tradition.  While someone grabbed five dollars out of my left hand for an unexplained purpose an overly-zealous senior pulled a beanie down over my eyebrows and eagerly demanded a dollar to pay for the privilege of wearing this indescribably piece of millinery.  The last person in this den of robbers shoved a "wolf book" in my empty right hand and grabbed a quarter out of my left.

From there I was led to my room, which I must confess struck me as having a close resemblance to a cell - - too close!  The only consolance I had was that I would have an inmate - - oops, I mean roommate - - to keep me from beating my head against the wall.

Finally, after all the sad farewells to the family, all of us freshly beanied greenies were marched to the auditorium for the beginning of orientation.

From Parker we were herded over to Lynn Hall for a mixer dance.  But I'm afraid that aching arches got the best of most of us, and our rooms (which no longer looked like barren cells) were a welcome sight.  Even the pink walls with green trim and a blue floor didn't repel me.  And so ended my first day at Hanover.

Since that day I have been forced to stand in other long lines and herded to other metings where I was greeted with more rules; but somehow it's different now.  I guess I'm getting used to this place called Hanover, and if my aching feet hold out through all these lines I suppose I'll stay.  Besides, the food's good.





Mark Bell, letter to the editor, Hanover College Triangle, 30 Oct. 1964, 2.

Dear Editor:

Student apathy concerning political affairs is becoming quite evident in campus life.  There is a total lack of informed concern.  People spend time in bull sessions hashing and rehashing second-hand knowledge but do not spend time trying to find out about issues and candidates for themselves.

We of PAF feel that an extensive program designed to inform people about actual campaign issues will best benefit the campus and will replace second-hand bull-session knowledge with factual information.

In no other election year have the issues been so contrasting and the people so uninformed.  In no other election year of the people had such an opportunity to vote their convictions - - the conservative can vote for a conservative; the liberal for a liberal.

It is hoped that the campus will realize the necessity of being well-informed and will use the available means to familiarize themselves with the campaign issues.

Mark Bell





Al Stone, "Reader Asks: Where Are Our Clean Sheets?" Hanover College Triangle, 21 Jan. 1966, 2.
Dear Editor,

It has come to my attention that, as in my fraternity house, many of the other houses do not receive their clean linen service at a reasonable, consistent, hour.  It seems to be merely a hit or miss deal as to when the little man in the blue truck will arrive.

Some of the fellows miss the truck and have the same sheets for many weeks.  This I might add, lends to a very uncomfortable night's sleep.  Why does this situation exist and what can be done?

Al Stone

Hanover College History Department