of Governor Herbert R. O'Conor 409

ST. JOSEPH'S COLLEGE—GRADUATION.

June 3, 1941 '
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

TO a graduate of a Jesuit College, it is always an inspiration to be present
at a Jesuit College Commencement, and to renew the spiritual and cultural
contacts that played so important a part in shaping the course of one's collegi-
ate and later life. Naturally, this feeling is intensified when one is honored by
an institution such as St. Joseph's College, with its long record of cultural
achievement. Frankly, I am very happy to be here with you today.

The community and, indeed, the Country, are fully conscious of the rich
contribution to the educational advancement of our people made by St. Joseph's
College, and of its service in the causes of science, the arts, literature, and of
better citizenship through the inculcation of religious principles.

You rightfully thrill to the realization that your Alma Mater through the
years has taught the sturdy lessons which people in a Democracy must learn
if they are to live together in freedom and in peace. You honor the devoted
men of the past and the present who have given, and are giving, their lives
to the service of the ideals and purposes of this revered institution. You take
just satisfaction in the far-flung accomplishments of your alumni in every
walk of life and in all parts of this Country.

A charter marks the formal establishment of an institution. But whether
the institution shall be vital in the life of the community depends upon what
men do with it thereafter. The real life of a college lies in the accomplishments
of the thousands of earnest men who have made up its faculty, student and
alumni bodies. It is the accumulated result of their loyal devotion.

The period covered in the life of St. Joseph's has witnessed national growth
unparalleled in the history of our Country. Entirely different problems con-
front the graduates of today, than were faced by earlier generations. Indeed,
even the past two decades have witnessed tumultuous changes in the world
that would have been thought impossible back in the twenties.

The graduating classes of the early twenties went into a world that was
discussing the "outlawry of war. " The signing of the Treaty of Locarno seemed
to have signalized a better spirit in international affairs, with more promise
of peace and security. In Russia Lenin, the father of the Bolshevist revolution,
had died and was succeeded, by a silent, rather mysterious person named Stalin.
The world knew little about him, but when he invited foreign engineers and busi-
nessmen into Russia to help build up the country, and did not seem to be bent
on spreading Bolshevism through the world, earlier fears that had been har-
bored about Russia were quieted. Mussolini, already dictator of Italy, had
flouted the League of Nations in the Corfu incident, but the world was not yet
much worried about the Fascists. A man named Hitler had made headlines,