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"Fellow Philos, Philo Fellows: "I salute you and send you my warmest good wishes of pleasure and prosperity on your new corporate existence. These words come to you from far away in time and space. I live in the semi-Spanish city of San Antonio, 1800 miles away, and I speak prompted by memories of the College going back to a past age: the last meeting of Philolexian that I attended, as a college senior and president of the Society, took place 75 years ago. I naturally wish that I could attend my next one by being with you today. I can only hope that my good friend and classmate Bob Schnitzer is among you to enjoy the festivities and bear witness to the accuracy of my arithmetic. "It is indeed heart-warming that you are reviving for the third time a noble institution that has had an uninterrupted existence for exactly 200 years. I say uninterrupted, because when Philolexian is not active and visible, it is still alive like the Holy Roman Emperor Barbarossa under his mountain, ready to reawaken and emerge in an instant. That is the meaning of our motto. "One last word: Today, April 11, while you are proving the truth of this vitality, I shall be addressing a choice group of faculty people here at Trinity University, an excellent liberal arts college. My subject is the one they requested: 'Campus and College Seventy-Five Years Ago.' I will of course do full honors to Philolexian. Surgam!" |
