"Friends are made one at a time" card, Humanics (1998)

Item in Springfield College Museum Exhibit Case.

A card about humanics from 1998 that reads, "stop everything for humanics." There is a large stop sign with the word "STOP"written in large letters in the middle. There are 3 people walking up the left side of the octogon, walking towards a person standing at the top reaching out their hand. This is an advertisement for Stepping up Day for 1998 which was held on Wednesday, April 22, 1998. The image appears again on the brochure for stepping up day that can be seen here: http://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15370coll2/id/3215 . This was created as part of Joel Dearing's tenure Distinguished Professor of Humanics during the 1997-1998 academic year. Dearing earned his BS from Springfield College in 1979 and taught as an associate professor of Physical Education at the college. Dearing also coached women’s volleyball for 22 seasons (1989-2010). He finished his career with a win-loss record of 595-196 and a.752 winning percentage. Dearing was the recipient of several different Coach of the Year honors throughout the years. In 1962, Dr. Glenn Olds, President of Springfield College at the time, began to wonder why this name was given to the intended philosophy of the college by Dr. Laurence Locke Doggett, Springfield College’s first full-time president. Olds acknowledged that the practices of the faculty were in large part consistent with the Humanics philosophy, but he believed that a more self-conscious application would improve chances of its continuity and survival. To ensure this, a Distinguished Professor of Humanics position was created at the college, first filled by Dr. Seth Arsenian from 1966-1969. The purpose of this position was to catalyze a renewal of consciousness in the philosophy. This was done by annually mandating the Distinguished Professor of Humanics to give a Humanics lecture on the definition of Humanics and what the concept means to them. Arsenian started this tradition in 1967 with his speech titled, “The Meaning of Humanics,” in which he described the concept as a set of ideas, values, and goals that make our college distinct from other colleges and make commitment and unity toward commonly sought goals possible.