TO THE DEAN

The resignation of a loved and honored teacher must always be accompanied by a deep sense of loss on the part of the University that he has served. No matter for how many years he has been in office, nor how exacting the work which he has carried on his shoulders, the announcement of his impending retirement invariably has an element of surprise and shock. It seems impossible that one who has been so close to the life of the institution can ever go.

The loss which Harvard suffers by the retirement of LeBaron Russell Briggs can be estimated only by his extraordinary record of service and achievement. His has been a personal guidance; he has given his students vision, and he has sent them out on the path of life inspired by a tradition which they could not quite define, but which has been to them a very real and living force.

Dean Briggs' influence will be respected and honored as long as the tradition of Harvard liberalism retains the character, to which he has so largely contributed; and even though he no longer labors, he remains the dean of American scholars and teachers.