June 13, 1932

In his Commencement address, President MacCracken drew to the attention of the 273 graduating seniors and seven recipients of master’s degrees a “keynote” he heard in commencement addresses across the country. “It is no longer a note of sturdy American individualism that is stressed,” he said. “In place of the old doctrine that every man shall bear his own burdens, they are bidden to bear one another’s burdens.” Reflecting on what had seemed in the past to be great freedom, he suggested that “we may question if our old freedom was not, after all…the liberty to be victimized, to be superstitious, to be ignorant, to be helpless against predatory powers.”

“If there is a solution,” MacCracken declared, “for the liberal democracy to which these United States are committed, it would seem to be in joint action by all groups for the protection of those interests which they recognize that they have in common. This would seem to involve a survey of social consciousness, the definition of the social interests which emerge from that consciousness, and a program of social protection for those interests.”

The report on annual giving included $119,246 for the gymnasium fund, $10,000 for chapel furnishings, $21,000 from the Carnegie Foundation for a tax-retiring allowance for teachers and several smaller designated gifts. Reunion gifts totaled $31,833, and the report said that gifts from alumnae and friends totaled $123,743, of which $38,000 had gone into the endowment.

The New York Times