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ferent to tangible signs of trouble and allowed ourselves to be beguiled
by false promises of a soft life without problems. I believe there is
evidence to support the fear expressed by Mr. Lippmann that if we do
not try, and if we do not succeed in the effort, we may never have a
second chance. And I believe there are indications to sustain the con-
clusion that unless we change our course we may be heading toward
national disaster. If there is an iota of such evidence, the risk is too
great for us to ignore it, for here we are risking everything.
In these circumstances, I find great satisfaction in the knowledge that
we have taken the steps to meet the challenges. Finally, I am consoled
with the feeling that you are aware of your heavy responsibilities and
are prepared to fulfill them with courage, strong will and wisdom.
ADDRESS, MORGAN STATE COLLEGE
FACULTY INSTITUTE DINNER
BALTIMORE
September 12, 1959
If the task given to me here by Dr. Jenkins is in any way an indication
of the kind of assignments he gives to his students, we need have no
misgivings about the scholastic standards of Morgan State College. A
possible solution to the proposition he makes would require a thesis
acceptable for a post-graduate degree. He wants to know what the State
expects of its institutions of higher learning. I hope, without too much
self-confidence, that I can give him a satisfactory answer.
But then, I rather like a challenge, and particularly if it provides me
with the opportunity to hurl it back to the challenger. This one does,
and I expect to do just that before I have finished here this evening. My
first inclination was to give the simple answer: That the State expects
its institutions of higher learning to give the students who go there a
proper education. That may, after all, be the best way it can be said,
but then I am supposed to make a speech here, and besides I suppose
the simple statement requires some elaboration.
We have observed during the past few years an enormous rise in the
demand for education, from the kindergarten to the graduate and pro-
fessional schools. There is a great cry and a great clamor for more
and better education as warnings are sounded from the most serious
sources that the supremacy of our civilization, if not our civilization
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