The Duty of Higher Education

The mind of man…
All modern marvels
Of intergalactic exploration
And unfolding of the inner atom…
Delicate enough to weep at the beauty
Of a rose… exquisite enough
To thrill to the unchained harmony
Of music… yet it is cosmic enough
To be at home among the stars,
In a universe where yesterday’s unknown
Is today’s commonplace. To be entrusted
With the exciting of that mind…
And thus hold a basic responsibility
For molding mankind’s destiny…
This is the supreme trust inherent
In higher education.

(Cornelius H. Siemens, Ph.D., LL.D.; HSU President 1950-1973)

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