SENIOR CLASS ORATION

May Sl, 1922

OREGON STATE AGRKXJUURAL COLLEGE

The college days of the Class of `22 are nearly owx. For four years we hawk wxked and played, planned and
executed. When me recall the lessons ve hate learned, the contests w have fought, the pleasures we hawz
experienced, UR feel pangs of regret and sorrow at leaving the college which has been such a potent factor in
our l&s; but when we look into the future, when we consider what remains to be done, we realize that we have
just finished gathering together our tools, and that our work is waiting for us.

The untiring efforts of President Kerr and of the Faculty to help us, their continuous faith in us, gin us a sincere
feeling of gratitude, and a heartfelt desire to show our appreciation. It is to OAC. that we are indebted for our
preparation for life. To make our&es happier and to serwz others better are the two chief purposes of living,
and the Iunction of education is to help us in fuhilhng these ends. Our lives are to stand as testimonials to the
efficacy of the work that our college is doing. Education, true education, such as our own college gives us, is
preparation both for a life of appreciation of the world and for a life of service to the world

The Oregon State Agricultural College is a technical institution. Its graduates are scientifically trained, but they
also receive the benefits of a cultural education, the importance of which must not be mrlooked. The technical
instruction and the cultural courses ha- their own parts to play in the education of a man or mman. The first
duty of a man is to live a full, complete and happy life. This is possible only for one who, in addition to haying
the technical education requisite for the earning of a living, has achiewd by means of his cultural training the
abiity to appreciate the finer things of life. And as for the second aim of existence -- the bettering of the world,
the advancement of civilization along all the avxmes open for advancement -- this also is dependent on these
two types of instruction. Broad, cultural instruction is necessary to point out the path of impnnement, and to
impress on one the necessity for improvement; and technical education, by giving men the abiity to do things,
enables them to make the advances which they see should be made.

0A.C. has contributed in a wonderful way to solving the multitude of problems arising in the state; but the
improxments which have been made in the past few years, great as they are, are small compared with those yet
to be accomplished. The greatest contribution of our college is its preparation of men to attack these problems.
The technical training is agriculture, engineering, mining, commerce and many other fields is pointing the way
to a better world by showing men how to disclose the bounties of nature and to adapt them to man's use. The
homes of the future will be brighter and the children of the future will be better because of the knowledge and
instruction given the young women at 0A.C. And ewxy man and woman trained in this college is beii
benefitted and broadened by the study of languages, music, science and literature.

"Gradually see what kind of work you individually can do; it is the first of all problems for a man to find out what
kid of work he is to do in this universe." This was Thomas Carlyle's advice to the students at Ediiborough
University, and one of the functions of a college is to assist men and women to follow it. But there is more to
the function of a college than that. The college makes it possible for you to find what work you can do, the
college g&s you the preparation you need for your wxk, and you owe it to the college to do pur work as well
as you can. 0A.C. is benefiting the state and the United States inestimably by training men to act, and by
showing them the deeds to be done. The technical institutions of the country are the custodians of the legacy
bequeathed to each generation by the preceding one -- the legacy of knowledge. We honor our own great
college for the wonderful way it is using its custodianship; we honor the Faculty for its intensive and unselfish
labors in carrying on the work of the institution; we honor President Kerr for his intelligent leadership, his wise
directing, his thoughtful planning, his keen foresight.  But we must not forget the legacy in honoring its
custodians. We can best honor them by utilizing the knowledge that they have worked to give us. May the


members of the senior class of every year go into the world inspired with the recognition of the debt they owe
to their Ahna Mater, and tense with the resolution to repay that debt by each one accomplishing in the best way
his chosen task.

It is not given to ewxy man to be unusually successful to be extraordmarily talented, or to be exceptionally gifted
to render service to the world. We can do no more than wu are able, but by doing as much as we are able, by
doing our best, we shall be accomplishing our task, and repaying our debt. For our college has given us
something which will allow us to do more than we otherwise could, and we must do more than we otherwise
would.

Snowden expressed the duties accompanying the gift of education by saying, "The educated man is that much
more of a man and should be of that much more use to the world. His eye should be clearer to see human
needs and his heart kinder and his hand abler to meet them. His shoulder should be the stronger and the
readier to go under the burdens of his fellow men and to help carry the load of the world's need. His presence
should be so much wisdom and inspiration and cheer in his own circle and in the community. The wider his
education, the stronger and richer his personality, the wider and deeper should be his sympathy and service and
SXlitiCe.

The problems looming up in the dewlopment of the state and country are enormous in ~huue and
owxwhehning in complexity. Advancement and growth depend upon the discovery and de-lopment of the
resources of nature, on the mastery and control of the forces of nature, and the investigation and interpretation
of the laws of nature. In the course of progress social relations are strained, and industrial, political and
educational problems arise. The country is crying for a solution of all these diiculties, and is hopefully looking
to the educated man for it.

This, then, is the way we can repay 0A.C. -- by service. Our college is founded on the idea of service, and we,
its students, are the representatives of the college. It is upon us that the duty falls of carrying out that basic idea.
We are going into the world inspired with the resolution of service, eager to show our love for our college and
our appreciation of her work by being of service to our fellow men.

Daniel Webster was challenging us when he said, "Let us dewzlop the resources of our land, call forth its pownrs,
build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also in our day and generation may
not perform something worthy to be remembered. We, the members of the Class of Nineteen l&ntytwo of
the Oregon State Agricultural College, accept the challenge, and pledge ourselves in answer to perform in our
day and generation something worthy to be remembered.

-Linus Pauling

(Original typesctipt by LP in firr Libnuy Special collections Box 140.10.)