President Jess Davis to five faculty at the spring faculty meeting. With service to Clarkson
totaling 144 years, those honored were Dr. Frederick Wilson, professor of civil engineering; Dr.
Truman L. Hamlin, professor of mathematics; Dr. A. Raymond Powers, professor of electrical
engineering; Fred F. Piper, professor of physics; and Earl F. Cornwall, instructor in mechanical
engineering. The first four were chairmen of their respective departments.
Student Wives Honored.
For helping their husbands to complete their education, 141 wives of
Clarkson students who graduated on June 4 were awarded special certificates on May 22 by
President Davis. The certificate read:
Be it known that (name) is awarded this certificate for meritorious service
by the Thomas S. Clarkson Memorial College of Technology in recognition and
appreciation of the assistance she has rendered her husband in the completion
of his program of higher education. By her encouragement, cooperation,
understanding, and industry she has demonstrated that she too is "A Workman
that Needeth Not to be Ashamed."
The Associated Press, realizing the merit of such recognition, relayed the
story on its wires to many papers throughout the nation.
Golden Knights Named.
Following a suggestion in the October 28
Integrator,
Clarkson's
athletic teams became known as the "Golden Knights." Donald B. Boyd, director of public
relations at Clarkson 1947-52, sold the idea to Bob Ross '52, editor of the
Integrator
, and John
Anson '52, editor of the
Clarksonian
. Ross responded with an editorial in the
Integrator
citing
three reasons for choosing that name:
1.
It was appropriate because included on the Clarkson family coat
of arms is the head of a knight.
2.
It was colorful and would lend itself well to cartoons, windshield decals, and
fraternity displays.
3.
It was different.
Investigation revealed that among the 253 members of the National Collegiate Athletic
Association there were eight Wildcats, 12 Tigers, seven Bears, six Bulldogs, and five Yellow
Jackets; but only Wartburg College of Waverly, Iowa, used the name Knight. (Some sports
writers have referred to the Army team at West Point as the Black Knights, but their official
nicknames as provided by the Military Academy Public Information Office were Army and the
Cadets.) The name Golden Knights met with rousing success and has been used ever since.
Ski Slope and Tow.
On the south side of the hill at the southern edge of the Clarkson estate,
[west of the Woodstock apartments] the students of the joint Clarkson-Potsdam State Teachers
Outing Club worked diligently to construct a ski hill, complete with a rope ski tow. They
cleared the slope of underbrush and small rocks, before they brought in a bulldozer to clear
large obstacles and to do the final grading of the hill. The result was an
intermediate slope 400 feet long and 250 feet wide with a drop of 100 feet which needed at least
four inches of snow for skiing.
