UR Flight '67

by LEONARD J. GREENSPOON

Who Did Not Keep The Seatbelt Around His Mind

Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset

Swiftly fly the years;

One season following another, laden with happiness and tears.

It is in this way that Tevye and Golde describe their long life in the classic "Fiddler on the Roof." It is in this same way that I would describe my four years at the University of Richmond.

It is a strange feeling to realize that four years, undoubtedly some of the most important in my life, have flown by so quickly. Yet this flight has not been by supersoni c jet, but more like the flight of a glider-filled with misgivings at the beginning, filled with adventure at the middle, filled with satisfaction at the end.

What has made the flight possiblethrough the seasons of happiness, the seasons of tears--have been those who made the trip with me. No matter what class accommodations we had, the education was strictly first-class for students with the desire, the dedication, the determination. Although this fact is probably true in all departments, no where is it truer than in the Richmond College department of Ancient languages.

For, any flight, even that of a glider, depends for its success mostly on the pilot, corresponding to the faculty of the University. There could be no better flight

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Leonard J. Greenspoon, who took his B.A. degree last month, is the only student in the history of the Universit y to w in three major fellowships: Fulbrigh t, Danforth, and Woodrow Wilson. He's studying German this summer at Harvard where two summers ago he studied Russian. Last summer he studied Italian in Rome and this fall he will return to Rome where he will begin his doctoral work at the University of Rome.

He plans to teach languages at the college level where, says Dr. Talbot R. Shelby, chairman of the department of ancient languages at the University of Richmond , he will be brilliantly successful.

His maturity and his ability as a writer were demonstrated in his editorials for the Collegian .

The best introduction to Greenspoon, how ever, is the article on this page . captain than the chairman of the department of Ancient languages, Dr. Talbot R. Shelby, and no better co-pilots than his associates in that and in the other departments in which I worked. When I entered Flight 1967, the course was uncertain, the route sure to be stormy. Only because experience was at the helm did I make it through successfully.

As the flight continues, one's attention turns to those individuals whose responsibility it is to make the flight more comfortable and pleasurable. It seems to me that the role of steward is analogous to that of the student who assumes a leadership position among and for the students. No special training is needed to be a student leader, but both roles have similar characteristics-a desire to be of service, to improve any defective aspect of the flight, to be there when a need arises. Thus it is that students who have led in all fields-athletics, student government, publications, clubs- have helped to keep my flight in the air.

One would never dream of assuming the steward's role on a flight. How unlike such a flight has been that of # 1967, where the positions of leadership have been filled by a number of the passengers . This opport unity to serve, along with the knowledge that my fellow students were likewise eager to serve, has been one of the prime sources of satisfaction during my four years at the University .

As I stated above, the real success or failure of any lengthy flight for the individual passenger is his relation with those around him. If he chooses to keep the seatbelt around his mind , as well as his body, and "go it alone," he will miss the wonderful and lasting friendships that can develop, the chances that arise to learn valuable lessons from others, to receive and give aid where it counts.

And, if I had to choose the outstanding trait of the vast majority of my fellow passengers in # 1967- and those who caught an earlier flight, as well as those who boarded after me- it would have to be their sincerity and friendliness. The person who flies across our country and keeps his eyes glued to the movie screen has presumably gotten where he wanted to go, but how much he's missed along the way! It is the same with the student who fails to take advantage of the opportunities that friendships offer. And, few of my fellow students, to my great pleasure have been of this type.

Supplied only with the knowledge gained in the classroom, I would feel as if I were [ 17 } in a balloon, with one rope still tied to a stake on the ground. Combining the academic knowledge with the warm and sincere friends I've made and the experience gained from them, I can cut the last rope and begin with greater confidence the long flight of my life, compared with which Flight 1967 is just a short haul .

Although the four years' flight may be a relatively short haul in the total flight of my life, it most certainly has set the course for all my future ones. With the guidance of experienced and interested pilots, with the sincere and able help of my fellow passengers in their various capacities, and with the opportunity to take my place as leader and server- Flight 1967 has been most rewarding and satisfying. Only now that the flight has come to an end and I've landed am I aware of how much I"ll always owe to old number '67.

Jim Tharpe

(Continued f rom page 14)

As a freshman at Richmond College, Tharpe was a mainstay on Coach Frank Dobson's 1924 team. It defeated Wake Forest, Trinity (now Duke), Maryland, and William & Mary in dual meets; overwhelmed Hampden-Sydney and RandolphMacon in a tri-meet; and won the South Atlantic Meet. The team's lone defeat was to Washington & lee . Tharpe's time of 51.4 and 1: 59.6 stood as frosh records until surpassed by Masters (50.6) in 1956 and Bob Willis ( 1: 58.0) in 1966.

Paced by Tharpe and Virgil Goode, '27, who held four school records at one time (100, 220, BJ, Discus), the Spiders won the South Atlantic Meet again in 1926 and finished second in '25 and '27.

Widely acclaimed was the Spiders' mile relay team of the mid-20's. The championship foursome of Goode, Charlie Edwards, G. H. "Gawkey" Sharpe, and Tharpe competed against the best on the East Coast, in big indoor meets at Washington and Baltimore, and running outdoors in the famed Penn Relays. It posted record times of 3:27.8 outdoors and 3:32.8 on the indoor boards.

Captain of the 1927 team and president of his senior class, Tharpe ranks as the fourth highest scorer in Richmond track history, amassing a total of 268 points. The three top point getters are Crute, 316; Goode, 2781/z; and George Riggs, ('57) 2701/z. The versatile Sam McCormick, '64, holds the single season record with 125 points in 1965.

Though 67 years old, Tharpe still runs approximately five miles a week on the YMCA track in Washington where he works as Assistant Membership Secretary. Even now as he plans for semi-retirement at a valley retreat in the mountains of

West Virginia, the star whose records shone brightest and longest in Spider track annals, says "all the good things in this life for me have been the result of my years at the University of Richmond. "