You didn’t walk on it, and you graduated!
This inscription, set into the Long Walk, commemorates the 1918 Commencement speech given by former President Theodore Roosevelt. Taken from the Bible,1 Kings 20: 11, the text can be translated “Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.”
Now you can learn the full story behind the inscription, including its connection to the 1954 campus visit of President Dwight Eisenhower, itself commemorated in a plaque located near the entrance of the Chapel. Ward S. Curran ’57, the Ward S. Curran Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus, has prepared an historical account of the Trinity visits of these two presidents, including their intergenerational connection at Utah Beach on D-Day. Read the full text of Professor Curran’s essay on the Trinity Web site at www.trincoll.edu/AboutTrinity/Documents/TwoPresidents.pdf.
We are also fortunate to have two photographs from President Eisenhower’s visit courtesy of Bob Mullaney ’55. Both pictures were taken by Bob Laird ’55.