Advertisement

GRADUATES AND FACULTY EXPRESS GREAT REGRET

"May Resign But Cannot Retire" Says Francke of Briggs--Lowes, Slocum and Emerton Also Give Statements

Several prominent members of the University Faculty who have been intimately connected with Dean Briggs and two members of the Board of Overseers, made the following statements for the CRIMSON in regard to the resignation of Dean Briggs.

Professor Emeritus Kuno Francke, Honorary Curator of the Germanic Museum, said: "It is a shock to me to hear that LeBaron R. Briggs is going to resign. I cannot think of Harvard College without him. He is inextricably interwoven with everything about her, and there are traces of him everywhere in her precincts. The Yard, the River, the Stadium, Sanders Theatre, the Faculty Room, Sever, the Union, daily themes, composition, football dinners, probation, prizes, scholarships, dropped Freshmen, goodies, boardwalks, the CRIMSON, the Advocate, the Lampoon, regulations and irregularities, grinds and loafers, Gentile and Jew, hour exams and Class Day--what good or evil phase in all our college life is there in which Briggs did not detect the human element, and in which he did not help in the making of manhood? Such a man may resign, but he cannot retire."

Professor F. L. Lowes G. '05, Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Chairman of the English Department, said: "Every member of the English Department joins with every alumnus of Harvard College in affectionate good wishes to Dean Briggs, coupled with a sense of personal loss."

Overseers Regret His Departure

Professor Emeritus Ephraim Emerton '71 said: "There will be plenty of others to speak of Dean Briggs' eminent services as administrative officer, sagacious counsellor, persistent believer in the essential right-mindedness of youth. My word at this moment is one, not of eulogy, but of congratulation for the opportunity now opening before him to devote himself to the congenial work of literary production. The volume of his achievement in this field is already considerable. As a writer of graceful verse and of a lucid prose always carrying a message of hopeful courage without reproach, he has a wide audience already assured.

Advertisement

"In welcoming him into the happy and honorable estate of the Emeritus, I be speak for him many years of fine creative activity. That in his case the word Emeritus will never have the meaning: laid upon the shelf; those who knew him best will feel most confident. His stores of experience will continue to be fruitful for the University and for the greater cause of a saue and human scholarship."

Mr. T. W. Slocum '90, a member of the Board of Overseers, said: "Dean Briggs deserved the retirement because of the length of his service. He is the dearest old man ever connected with the University."

Mr. Charles Moore '78, also a member of the Board of Overseers said: "Dean Briggs is a constituent part of the University and I am very sorry to see him go."

Advertisement