Correspondence

Regarding the 150 ...

The following are some historical comments that might be added to the Lehigh 150 list: The Bulletin states that Asa Packer (No. 150 on the list) donated $500,000 and 57 acres to establish Lehigh University, but an 1888 Harper's Weekly article indicates that Packer gave $500,000 and 125 acres to establish Lehigh, and a total of $3.5 million to Lehigh (including $500,000 to the library) in his lifetime.

The Bulletin comments that Lehigh's brown and white colors (No. 108 on the list) might have been chosen based on fashionable women's stockings in 1876, but the Lehigh University 1866-1886 book states that, "The adoption of brown and white had trenched upon the property of Brown University ...

The stories that refer their choice to certain aspects of apparel are ... creations of the imagination.”
Richard Kaplan '65

Remembering Dean Palmer

Your recent issue of the Bulletin was an impressive overview of Lehigh's past. What stunned me was that nowhere in your review did the name Philip Mason Palmer appear. Dean Palmer survived a series of presidents and, almost alone at times, held the university together through his purposeful support of the Arts and Sciences in a school that repeatedly was identified as an "engineering university.” Many graduates of Lehigh recall the quiet counseling given by Dean Palmer in his role as Dean. To publish a history of Lehigh without mention of Dean Palmer is a travesty and a reflection on the competence of the researchers who gathered together your published report. Even a prominent graduate of Lehigh, Eugene Grace (chairman of Bethlehem Steel), once commented that "Even engineers need to learn to write and communicate.” Grace became a supporter of the School of Arts and Sciences.
Richard B. Palmer '43

Editor's Note: We appreciate the comments of Richard B. Palmer, the son of Philip Mason Palmer. The elder Palmer gave the arts college its shape, according to a narrative history of Lehigh's humanities written by Jim Benner and Jim Wolfe. Palmer came to Lehigh in 1902 as an instructor in German, and in four years became head of the department of romance languages. He was appointed director of the College of Arts and Sciences in 1921 and became its first dean in 1936. Palmer made his scholarly mark with studies of Goethe, especially Faust, and his work was well respected in the United States, Britain and Germany. Lehigh's Palmer Hall, one of the Centennial II residential houses, is named after him.

Missing the Mark in the '150'

As president of the Class of 1960, and perhaps speaking for my generation at Lehigh, I cannot understand how a Lehigh group can write a 150-year history of the school citing 150 situations and mentioning 64 individuals including all the presidents of the university but fail to specifically mention Eugene Gifford Grace and Billy Sheridan.

Mr. Grace was president and chairman of Bethlehem Steel from 1916 to 1957, the second largest steel company in the second or third largest industry in the United States during that period. Bethlehem Steel was also the largest shipbuilding company in the world. He led the company through both World War I and World War II. It was a leading participant in the Arsenal of Democracy.

Regarding Lehigh, he was chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1924 to 1957, during a period when enrollment doubled, the endowment quadrupled and 13 new buildings were added. His accomplishments were far more significant than many of the presidents you mention. You also mention by name a number of recent Lehigh graduates whose personal achievements are impressive but who certainly are not a national figure like Mr. Grace.

Along with a strong alumni tradition, similar to Princeton and Dartmouth, Lehigh has had a number of outstanding board chairmen, including several in the last two decades.

Secondly, the history fails to mention Billy Sheridan, who put the Lehigh wrestling program on the national map. He was head coach for 31 years, with a 222-86 dual meet record, a charter member of the National Collegiate Wrestling Hall of Fame, U.S. Olympic coach in 1936 and recognized as the Knute Rockne of college wrestling.

I rest my case.
John J. Kennedy '60

A Differing Viewpoint on 'An Eye for War'

The author in the An Eye for War article (Summer 2015) wasn't totally wrong, in that there's a real cultural shift in military training over the past 70 years. He dramatically overstates the employment of video games as a means to encourage soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines to perform differently in battle, though.

He also isolates the homemade "war porn" videos that service members seem to love as an example of a military policy to train troops to perform differently, but that also misses the mark.  Employment of E-Type silhouettes on the rifle range—and having them drop when shot—is probably more significant than anything the author identified in the article (perhaps this point is made and expounded upon in the forthcoming book's pages). And, in response to a prior comment criticizing the author, let's not equate having a critical eye on military training to being nonsupportive of Uncle Sam's kids.

And to rebut any ad hominem attacks, I am an active duty service member who previously deployed to Afghanistan and traveled outside the wire in and around the Kabul base cluster and Bagram Airfield. I am qualified on the M4 and M9 and went through a training program that was devoid of video games.

Frederic Pugliese '05

Remembering Prof. Tresolini

Congratulations on this excellent issue of the Bulletin! It brought back many memories.

Thank you for mentioning Prof. (Rocco J.) Tresolini ("Lehigh at 150,” pg. 37). I had excellent teachers at Lehigh, including Prof. Carl Strauch of the English Department. But Prof. Tresolini stands out in my memory because of the help and encouragement he gave me in the last semesters of my time at Lehigh. I had come to realize that my major, Industrial Psychology, was not the right one for me, and that I had no real interest in it. I wanted to use my remaining non-major hours to find something that would point me in a direction I could take after Lehigh. By chance, I met with Prof. (Howard) Ziegler, who was counseling students in the Arts & Sciences College, and learned that I still had to satisfy the then distribution requirements. Of the three courses I could choose from, I chose Prof. Tresolini's Govt. 351, American Constitutional Law. That course and a second changed my life. He asked me during my second course with him if I was interested in law school, which I was. He arranged for me to meet the then visiting dean of the law school I eventually attended and wrote letters of recommendation for me to all the schools to which I applied.

My post-Lehigh life was very rewarding, and I owe that life in great part to his steadfast help. It was a great shock to learn in my last semester of  law school (spring of 1967) that he had died. When the Tresolini Lectures were established, I was able to attend some of them as my family and I were living in Maryland at the time. He deserved that honor. Later, when I was Dean of Students at American University's Washington College of Law, I was able to assist in the admission of a Lehigh government major who was recommended to me by Prof. Tresolini's successor, whose name escapes me at the moment.

I apologize for writing so long a message, but I wanted to give my personal recollection of this splendid Lehigh faculty member.
Edwin R. Hazen '60

More on President Obama, and on Civility

The Lehigh Bulletin has published several letters from alumni accusing President Obama of being a Marxist. This reflects ignorance on the part of the letter writers and meanness on the part of the editors of the Bulletin. President Bush said GM wasn't going under during his presidency, and he made sure it didn't–maybe he's a Marxist. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were basically nationalized under Bush, too.

A cursory reading of history shows that President Obama's overall actions such as the Asian Free Trade agreement are not the actions of a Marxist. Most people do not even know what a Marxist is.

Obama's views and actions are nowhere near (those of) Bernie Sanders much less Joseph Stalin. In some regards (for political reasons) he is less liberal than Roosevelt. Whether you like the president or not, we should try to avoid the partisan name-calling that just ignores facts, and the alumni Bulletin should not spread these views especially without some sort of commentary or context.
Larry Herold '83

Editor's Note: Thank you for the note, Mr. Herold. You were not the only reader to express dismay at some of the political dialogue that has populated our Correspondence pages in recent issues, so we wanted to briefly respond. First, we want to note that we do not in fact publish every letter we receive; if we feel any letter crosses the line from healthy debate into disrespectful dialogue, we will not run it. At the same time, we want our readers to use these pages as an open forum for the sharing of ideas—and at times, that will lead to heated back-and-forth. However, so long as the letters maintain a level of civility, we will publish them—and, of course, welcome responses in future issues.

Send letters to Tim Hyland at tih313@lehigh.edu or mail to 125 Goodman drive, Bethlehem, Pa. 18015-3754