50 Years Ago...

from the 1954 Woosteria Yearbook

Wooster?s 28th Commencement held on Monday, June 7, graduated 22 members of the class of 1954.  Guest speaker at ceremonies held on the Wooster campus was the Reverend Dr. A. Leland Jamison, Professor of Religion at Princeton University. 

Graduating with the Class of 1954 were: 
Colin Lindberg, Senior Prefect, UVM
Arthur Griffin, Jr., Valedictorian, Prefect, East Cottage, Princeton
Warren Andrews, Prefect, New Building, Amherst
Leon Marasco, Jr., Prefect, Coburn Hall, RPI
Lewis Hurwitz, Prefect, Farmhouse, Colgate
Rod Jendrick, Prefect, West Cottage, Rollins
Bill Fernandez, Student Athletic Manager, University of Pennsylvania
John Gregg, Jr., Prefect, East Cottage, Duke University
John Hamill, Head, KP, St. Lawrence
Harry Hoyt, Jr., Head Setter Up, UConn
Richard Hunt,  Colgate
Wendell Grolljahn, School Store Manager, Babson College
Eustace ?Tony? James, Librarian, Princeton University
Raymond Jennings, Jr., Headwaiter, St. Lawrence
Kenneth Lynn, Lafayette College
Francis "Frank" O'Brien, Head Sacristan, Boston University
Kevin Moyles
Albert "Al" Parker, Head Setter-Up, St. Lawrence
Stephen "Bob" Pecka, Head, KP, Colgate
Gerald Raschella, Boston College
Thomas Emerson Rounds, III, Librarian, Amherst
William "Ted" Thompson

Class Gift:  The oil portrait of Aaron Coburn that hangs in the Dining Room to this day. 

 
Vice President of the United States, Alben Barkley, breaks ground for Coburn Hall building project, June, 1952
with Rev. John Verdery, Headmaster

from the Wooster General, October 1953 and February 1954 editions

     Student Musical Comedy:  Blast Off for Anywhere, with hilarious satire and original songs written by Mr. Frank Young, Head of Wooster's Music Department.  This was the seventh original production from the talented Mr. Young. 
 
     Football Coach Jack Sullivan retires after thirty-seven years of coaching, the last eleven spent as Wooster?s head football coach. 

     Dedication of the newly constructed Coburn Hall and Library took place on November 2, 1953 at 5:00 pm, preceded by an open house and reception starting at 3:00 pm.  More than 300 parents, alumni, and friends were on hand to inspect the new quarters.  A service of dedication was conducted by the Rev. John Verdery, Headmaster, assisted by the Rt. Rev. Donald B. Aldrich, dean of the Princeton University Chapel, and the Very Rev. John C. Coburn, dean of Trinity Cathedral in Newark. 
     Begun in June, 1952 when Alben Barkley, then vice-president of the United States, turned the first spadeful of earth at groundbreaking ceremonies, actual construction was finished just in time for occupancy at the opening of school year 1953-54.