Alcala 1969

INTRODUCTION

A 20th anniversary, or a 200th, is a pause on the bank of the stream of existence. Watching the hur­ tling waters tumble by, the onlooker meditatively returns to the spring that set these forces into play, and imaginatively projects their widening sweep even to the oceans of eternity. At this existential moment, viewed in these pages, the University of San Diego reviews and previews, puts into proper perspective a score of years and warms at the pro­ pitious prospect of more. The present beneficiaries may feel that they are standing on the verge of cre­ ation. This is year 1. But they also need the historic sense and the eschatalogical vision. The city in motion finds its roots in that moment 200 years ago when Father Junipero Serra crossed the last barranca, stood on a mesa overlooking a land "so good and gladsome", and invited all to come to San Diego. The University of like name for this moment looks back before it leaps ahead, trying to recapture the thoughts of his heart as Bishop Buddy toured the majestic "Hill" for the first time with the Religious of the Sacred Heart and a few priests, made the historic decision, committed his diocesans to the sacrificial struggles, braved the disappointments and wrong directions, turned the first shovels of dirt, blessed the cornerstones, dedi­ cated building after building. But neither the city nor the university lolls in the past nor dawdles in the present. The future chal­ lenges to blossoming, to fruition. The melee of change and the melange of unification, the recogni­ tion of new needs, the fixing of new purposes, is the temper of the moment. Under Bishop Furey there is an exciting enthusiasm for what can be as we gratefully recall what has been. The growth, the economic development, the natural benignity of San Diego assure us that it was right to pioneer and it is reasonable to carry forward this "small island of ultimate truth", where the art of thinking derives from the thinking arts and the life of the spirit is directed by the Holy Spirit. As the cross on the tower of the Immaculata rises in a grand benediction over the campus, the University prays for its educators and educands of the past, present and future: "I give thanks to my God for all my memories of you, happy at all times in all the prayers I offer for all of you. And this is my prayer for you: May your love grow richer and richer yet, in the fullness of its knowledge and the depth of its perception, so that you may learn to prize what isof value: may nothing cloud your progress: may you reap through Jesus Christ the full harvest, To God's honor and praise."

Rev. J. Vincent Sullivan

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