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A SALUTARY INFLUENCE most people, even on cloudless days, were soaking wet by the time the ceremonies were over.217 In 1967 the commencement planners decided to venture outdoors once again. In that year they scheduled commencement in the area south of Pennsylvania Hall, on what they began to call the quadrangle. Here, on what was the original front yard of the College when it moved to the present campus in 1837, there were lawns, trees, and ample space. Threatening or bad weather forced a return to the Student Union Building in 1968, 1971, 1974-1976, and 1979. An approaching storm in 1977 prompted a hurried conclusion to the ceremonies on the quadrangle. The commencement speakers between 1946 and 1985 were persons with successful and distinguished careers in the military, public service, higher education, business, and other fields. A representative sample includes General Dwight D. Eisenhower (1946); author and commentator William L. Shirer (1954); Professor Roland H. Bainton (1958); Ambassador and alumnus John S. Rice (1963); Air Force Secretary Harold Brown (1967); editor and author William F. Buckley, Jr. (1971); New York State Senator Carol K. Bellamy (1973), an alumnus and the first woman speaker; magazine editor, columnist, and television newsperson Shana Alexander (1976); Pennsylvania State University football coach Joseph V. Paterno (1979); biochemist and author Isaac Asimov (1981); and actor, director, and producer John Houseman (1985). From the 1960s on, the seniors had a significant voice in the selection of the person to address them on their graduating day. By eliminating everything except what they considered to be indispensable, and by securing speakers who emulated Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg rather than Edward Everett, those planning the commencement programs were able to have every senior present be identified, walk across the stage, receive a diploma, and be greeted by the president, all in a ceremony which lasted about ninety minutes.218 Beginning in the 1960s the College held a postcommence- 217Appointed marshal in 1922, Frank H. Kramer continued to serve in that capacity until he retired in 1956. His successors were Kenneth L. Smoke (1957-1970], Harold A. Dunkelberger (1971-1983), and A. Bruce Boenau (from 1983). In 1948 Edward W. Glatfelter, York, made a black walnut marshal's baton, patterned after one used by Oxford University, which replaced an earlier one used since the Granville administration. 218The national anthem became part of the commencement program in 1944; the College hymn ("Blessing and honor, and glory and power") was dropped after 1959; the alma mater remained. R.O.T.C. commissioning exercises were separated from the commencement exercises after 1942. In the early 1960s program planners discussed and then rejected the suggestion that, in the interests of saving time, the practice of having seniors participate personally in the exercises be discontinued. In 1970 and 1971, for the first time in about forty years, student spokesmen again appeared on the program. 92