VOLUME ONE
FEBRUARY -
1948
NUMBER THREE
d1/l onurrunt to tf'u CJ[d and dVew
CJ{u_ Cfa1-1-ic Cap and §own
Newport and its opulent splendor are as easily associated as New York and Wall Street, San Francisco and its Golden Gate, and Washington, the site of the White House. Dreams of living within the grandeur of Newport were suddenly realized with the opening of our college. The city really made a lasting impressio~ upon me when first I viewed the contrasts that make up 1ts strange beauty. To those who have never had the opportunity of actually stepping into historic Newport, the name is only a legend of all that was glorious and stately in the past, and all that is representative and select in the p~es~nt. However, only a short visit through the narrow, wmdmg streets lined with quaint shops, and along the pleasant treelined avenues shading glorious mansions symbolizing the past, may we fully realize the stirring significance of Newport in the world of yesterday and our modern world of industry and mechanism. Newport began its career in a humble fashion over a century ago with the coming of Southern planters to this northern portion, and gradually men of letters and wealth were drawn to the small resort bordering the sea, and looking across to the Europe from which it soon borrowed so much in architecture, literature, and art. Climate, location, and beauty made it the favorite residence of families representative of the growth, wealth, and future of a young and ambitious nation, and these same assets made Newport a reminder of all that was cherished and preserved from the avenues and shores of France, Italy, and England in the Romantic era. The majestic Old Colony House, erected in 17 38, the Old Trinity Church, 1726, the mysterious Old Stone Mill and the Redwood Library, the oldest public library in the country, all belong in the pages of eighteenth ce~Â tury history and have remained stau~ch and sturdy to th1s day as monuments of colonial architecture and mtellect. The present day Newport has advanced commercially and industrially as have all portions of this nation. Educational projects have been founded and military defenses erected, but these modern elements necessary to a world of learning and turmoil have failed to penetrate famed Ochre Point and the Ocean Drive. The renowned mansions stand challenging the sea and the twentieth century, remaining ever commanding and ideal. Perhaps it is this unwavering determination which has made Newport .the only lasting resort for the great names of a great nat10n.
On February 6, we were solemnly invested in the cap and gown. It was the institution of a tr~diti?n here at the college, a tradition, which hardly reachmg 1ts ~oots into our soil, is ivy-covered in other colleges and umversities. The cap and gown have a history. They are steeped in the romance of medieval lineage and being the product of a dignified, gradual evolution in the history of learning, they have reached tenacles deep into the heart of every college student. The cap and gown had their origin in the eleventh century when the revival of learning took place in E_ur?pe, and all the major universities of the era, great assooat1ons of art gilds for the most part, immediately adopted the use of them as outward symbols of achievement. They were at first long gowns with hoods draped over the back of them for both practical and intellectual purposes: the hood served as a hat. Gradually, the hood ceased to be worn at all except by professional men, and it was not until after the sixteenth century that caps of particular forms were worn by professional and ecclesiastical persons to indicate their profession and rank. In 1564, a poem was printed which cleverly described the features which distinguished the caps. It begins like this: Any cap, whate' er it be, Is still the sign of some degree. . . and goes on to describe the academic caps as: 'Tis square like scholars and their books: The rest are round but this is square, To show that they more stable are. . . . And so, the academic cap and .gown descend with very little variance from the sixteenth century to the present age of learning. They symbolize attainment, realization, and ultimate achievement in their field, and in some small measure, they do for us. But for the most part they indicate a beginning for us; they slant the ladder towards the goal of success. We have much to live up to; we have not yet merited the cap and gown. The remaining years here in college will prove our worth.
§i(t o( !Buitdi~1- and _tand An indoor gymnasium, a chemistry laboratory, and new dormitories for Salve Regina! Can anyone think of a more pleasing gift for the faculty and students of our College? I'm reasonably sure they cannot, unless they cite the beautiful sixteenth-century stained-glass window (continued lo page 3)