May 31, 1964

At Commencement, president-elect Alan Simpson told the members of the Class of 1964 and their families and guests that the “brains and energy of women is our most neglected national asset.” Urging the graduates to claim their rightful places in the professions, Simpson said, “There are countries today in which women play a far more conspicuous part in the national life and national dialogue than they do in ours. The question in countries like ours is whether you will be content to occupy all the lower-echelon jobs or whether you will be interested in scaling the heights.”

Students, faculty and Mr. Simpson also paid tribute to Sarah Gibson Blanding and her 13 years of service to the college. Mr. Simpson told the graduating class “If I have one last wish for you as you graduate it is that you may have as much gallantry and gaiety, as much pride and as little pomposity, as much capacity for work and enjoyment, as Sarah Blanding. In plain, in heroic magnitude of spirit, she has few equals.”

John Wilkie, chairman of the board of trustees, announced the board’s approval of a new faculty housing complex to be built between Raymond and Hooker Avenues. The New York Times, The Miscellany News