Tuesday began with another trip to the fitness center with Curtis. As they were living in the same building, they could now walk to the center together most mornings. Curtis was clearly concerned about the Sigma Alpha Tau meeting that evening, and asked Bryce several times about the resolution he and four other brothers had been working on since last week. Most of that work had been done by e-mail, so they did not need to actually physically meet, although casual meetings at the fraternity house sometimes resulted in working out a wording here or there. Bryce was able to assure Curtis that all was in readiness, and the wording was explicit without being confrontational.
After they had been working out for about half an hour, Bryce noticed Roland Lyle enter the room. He hailed him, and asked what he was doing on campus so early.
“I decided to make use of some of the privileges which go along with the exorbitant costs of a university education, including the use of these facilities,” Roland replied. “I am on the lacrosse team, and we’ve been working out some, but not usually so early.”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot that you’re a jock,” Bryce teased.
“One of the considerations in selecting U of C, in addition to the convenience of living at home and good programs in the majors we wanted, is that John Luke and I were both offered places on the team here,” Roland stated. “I really like the sport, and I think I’m a pretty decent player. If that makes me a jock, so be it.”
“I must confess I know nothing about lacrosse,” Bryce said.
Curtis, who had been listening to the previous exchange, clapped his hands to his chest and staggered at that, as though suffering a stroke. “Mark this down!” he exclaimed. “Bryce Winslow admits he knows nothing about something. It’s a first!”
That broke Roland up, but left Bryce a little less than impressed.
“Roland, do you remember this clown? I think you met him about the same time we met last spring semester,” Bryce asked the freshman.
“I think so. You look familiar.” Roland said, extending his hand to Curtis. “I’m Roland Lyle.”
“Oh, yes. You’re Beau’s cousin or something. I spoke with Beau about you last week when I asked him about Buck Lomax,” Curtis replied, shaking hands. “I think I encouraged you to try for Sigma Alpha Tau fraternity.”
Roland made a sour face at the mention of Buck, but said “That’s the fraternity Beau’s in, right?”
“Right,” Curtis and Bryce both confirmed.
“He’s been on me all summer, since I made the definite decision to come here. Yeah, I think I’ll give it a try,” Roland responded.
“Well, you are in the exalted presence of the president of the fraternity, so kowtow accordingly,” Bryce teased.
“Really?” Roland asked in a skeptical tone.
“Why are you so suspicious? I really am the president of Sigma Alpha Tau this year,” Curtis replied.
“Sorry, but Beau keeps telling me things that I later find out are not so. He thinks it’s really funny to try to get me to make a fool of myself. And I suspect Bryce is not above the same chicanery,” Roland explained.
Bryce chuckled. “Beau had him about to wear a beanie with a propeller on top on the first day of classes,” he told Curtis.
Curtis extended his hand and placed it on Roland’s shoulder. In an avuncular voice he said, “You are well advised to be suspicious of anything either one of those jokers tell you. If you want a straight answer, come and ask me. I am a champion of truth, justice, and the American way.”
“Oh, geez. Now I’ll never know who to believe,” Roland complained.
“You’ll get used to being confused,” Bryce consoled him. “Now, how about getting down to some work here. You just got here, but Curtis and I have been here for at least half an hour. Still, we have lots of time to do a few things together before we need to leave. I’m leaving at eight. I have a nine o’clock class, and I refuse to skip my breakfast or show up for class smelling like a locker room.”
And so the three young men put in nearly an hour working out. Then, leaving Roland to his own devices, Curtis and Bryce returned to the Caldwell house to begin their day.
An hour later, Bryce was back on campus, accompanied by Damon, for their joint class in Art History. Both of them had proposals for their term paper topics in this class, but would wait until after class to speak to Professor Padgett about that. Not surprisingly, Damon wanted to do his paper on Caravaggio. Bryce decided to try something about Bernini. But getting approval had to wait until after the first real class of the semester. Professor Padgett proved to be a good lecturer, combining solid information with an interesting presentation, spiced with a bit of humor. This first class was on the cave art of the Cro-Magnon inhabitants of modern day France and Spain. She discoursed on why this was art and not just random markings on cave walls. One of the students objected that it was not art, but something practical, as it had a purpose. It was evidently part of some kind of ritual intending to assure a successful hunt. But the instructor insisted that there was no necessary conflict between art and utility. It did not have to be merely decorative to be art, and in fact much of the great art they would be studying had a useful function in the society which produced it.
When the class ended, both Bryce and Damon approached the instructor about their term paper topics. She was pleased that they had something this soon, as most students for some reason seemed to put off such things to the last minute. She clearly remembered Damon from the previous Thursday, and readily agreed to his proposal to write about the expression of emotion in the paintings of Caravaggio. Bryce proposed to study the same topic in the three best known sculptures of Gian-Lorenzo Bernini, Apollo and Daphne, David, and The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa.
“I see that your travels this past summer included Rome,” Dr. Padgett commented. “I’m pleased that you used some of your time to take in such works as these. These are quite appropriate topics, and I wish you well with them.”
She recommended several sources in the art history section of the Patterson Library for their perusal, and gave them every encouragement.
Leaving their written proposals with the teacher, the two made their way to the library to do some work before lunch. While they both checked on the sources for their art history papers recommended by Dr. Padgett, Bryce also gave some thought to his English paper. He needed to come up with something specific about John Dryden, and so spent some time on that. While he was doing that, Damon was perusing the political theory offerings on Plato, searching for a topic for his paper in that class.
At lunch time, they met Caroline Koehler once again. In what was becoming an increasingly common development, Damon and Caroline spent the time discussing cooking, leaving Bryce out of the conversation. When he complained, Damon responded, “All across Europe I listened while you talked. Now it’s my turn, so just behave yourself.” That gave Bryce something to think about. One of the purposes of the European trip last summer was to familiarize Damon with places and things which had made an impression on Bryce, and at the conclusion of the trip, Damon stated that he understood his partner better as a result. Could there be a parallel here? That gave Bryce something to consider, so he spent the lunch hour listening to his partner, and trying to understand how his interest in cooking fitted into his overall personality, and what it said about his background.
At one o’clock Damon had to be off to his Spanish class, but Bryce had another half-hour before his Renaissance Italy class. He spent the time working on John Dryden.
At one-thirty Bryce had his second upper division history class, Italy during the Renaissance, with Professor Belzi. He was prepared to submit a proposal for a term paper on the Borgias based on the reading he did last week. But, again, that would have to come at the end of the class period, as he only got to the classroom in time for class to begin because of his immersion in Dryden during the previous half-hour.
Professor Belzi lectured first on the difficulty of fixing a date for the beginning of the Italian Renaissance. Some older authorities chose a date as late as the mid-fifteenth century, supposing that the Renaissance was a consequence of the arrival of Greek scholars after the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453. Professor Belzi ridiculed that idea, pointing out that there had been a definite quickening of interest in what have been called Humanism and Classicism for a century prior to that with such scholars as Petrarch and Poggio Bracciolini, and that Greeks had been in Italy well before the fall of Constantinople, as exemplified by Manuel Chrysoloras and Basil Bessarion. On the other hand, Jakob Burckhardt, in his seminal work Die Kultur der Renaissance in Italien of 1860, pushed the Renaissance back to the thirteenth century, based on the interest of scholars at that time in some of the Classical writers. But the society of the thirteenth century was definitely medieval. There was no getting around it, such scholars as Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, William of Ockham, and Dante Alighieri shared an outlook which was grounded in medieval Christianity, which in the view of Professor Belzi disqualified them from being part of the Renaissance. Instead, he proposed that the dislocations brought about by the Black Death of the mid-fourteenth century provided the vehicle for the adoption of a more secular and skeptical outlook, which heralded the Renaissance. That seemed to establish Belzi’s approach, holding that devout Christianity was incompatible with the Renaissance.
Following this discourse on dating, the Professor discussed what he called the identifying characteristics of the Italian Renaissance, namely, Classicism and Humanism. He again made reference to the work of Jakob Burckhardt, to whom he gave the credit for formulating this interpretation. But he insisted that Classicism and Humanism had to both be present in order to have the Renaissance. The fact that a medieval scholar quoted a classical authority was not sufficient. Classicism meant an actual attempt to relive the outlook of the ancient world, not just use classical works as a source of information. After all, the word “renaissance” means “rebirth,” and the rebirth which the proponents of the Renaissance had in mind was the culture of ancient Greece and Rome.
Likewise, the Humanism of the Renaissance involved a shift of viewpoint from a religious one to a secular one, with concern for the abilities of humans rather than the mysteries of heaven, the here-and-now rather than the eternal. The Renaissance bestowed its highest praise on human achievement, and rejected the asceticism and other-worldliness of the medieval. There was clearly in Dr. Belzi’s presentation the implication that the religious outlook of the medieval world was a waste of time and resources, something like a fantasy world. Thus, the warnings given by Dr. Dickinson came to mind as Bryce dutifully took notes. He did note that Mark Rimbault seemed to be agreeing with the instructor, which was no surprise, given the outlook he had expressed last spring.
After class, Bryce approached Professor Belzi about his term paper topic. He mentioned having come across the book by Meyer in the library, and wanted to follow up on that, seeing whether he really did have a convincing re-evaluation of the Borgias.
“I ordered that book when it came out in the spring,” Dr. Belzi said, “but I have not yet read it. I have, however, read a number of reviews of it. I will be interested to see what you make of it.”
And so it was that Bryce had another topic approved.
When Bryce returned to the apartment, he found Damon awaiting him.
“We have been invited to tea by Dr. Caldwell at four, and I could think of no reason to decline,” Damon informed his roommate.
“Okay. I’m glad I came directly back after class, though. You should have phoned or texted me,” Bryce complained.
“I was afraid something would go off in the middle of your class. It was shortly after I got here that Dr. Caldwell called with the invitation,” Damon explained.
“I always silence my equipment before a class. You know that. It’s usually on vibrate,” Bryce reminded his partner.
Consequently, just at four o’clock the two descended and knocked on the connecting door to Dr. Caldwell’s quarters on the first floor. The door was immediately opened, leading to the conclusion that their landlord had been waiting for them.
“Come in, come in. So happy you could join me. Please have a seat in the parlor, and I will be right with you,” Conrad Caldwell greeted them.
“Can I help you with anything?” Damon asked.
“No, no. I’ve got everything quite organized. Thank you,” the Professor replied.
In just a moment, he returned with a real china teapot, which he placed on a coaster on the table in front of his chair. Already in readiness were cups and saucers, sugar, cream, lemons, and sandwiches cut into triangles. Both Bryce and Damon took lemon in their tea, but Dr. Caldwell took cream, in the British manner. He began to discourse on the house and his family, relating how his great-grandfather had done well in business, and had the house built at a time when Belgravia Court was the premiere address in the city.
“I never married, and have no children of my own,” he sighed. “I was devoted to the academic life. I have a nephew, but he prefers to live in the suburbs in some ridiculous imitation of a Tudor manor house. I don’t know what will happen to this house when I die.”
“Is there no one in your family who is interested? This is a wonderful place, and so convenient to the University,” Bryce asked.
“Well, the nephew I mentioned is my closest kin, but I suppose there are others to consider. After all, the estate is not entailed,” he chuckled as though he had made a great joke.
They talked for some time about the classes the two young men were taking, and Dr. Caldwell’s reminiscences of his days on the faculty. He commented that he held out until he was seventy years old, but had to retire at that time because of failing eyesight. “Macular degeneration,” he informed them. “Nothing to be done at my age. That was twelve years ago. Fortunately, I’ve had a series of renters who keep me informed about conditions, and it’s interesting to see things from the student’s viewpoint.”
In discussing their classes, Damon mentioned the opinion of Dr. Padgett that the quality of life at a given time could be discerned in its art. Dr. Caldwell paused. He put his fingers together to form a tent under his chin, and asked, “Have either of you come across a work by Joan Kelly called Did Women Have a Renaissance? I believe she used the name Kelly-Gadol for her publications.”
“No, Sir, I don’t believe I have,” Damon responded, as Bryce nodded agreement.
“It came out in 1977, as I recall. Some considered it part of a feminist effort to rewrite history, but I didn’t see it that way. No, no, not at all. I suppose I have always been of the opinion that history is not made by the masses, but by the ruling elite, at least before the last century. I mean the nineteenth century. I don’t suppose the ploughman in the field or the shepherd on the hillside knew it was the Renaissance. They weren’t the ones reading Hesiod or Virgil’s Georgics. Their lives did not change with the rediscovery of antiquity.”
Dr. Caldwell lay his head back and closed his eyes as he cited William Butler Yeats’ comment on the Court of Urbino.
And Guidobaldo, when he made
That mirror-school of courtesies
Where wit and beauty learned their trade
Upon Urbino’s windy hill,
Had sent no runners to and fro
That he might learn the shepherds’ will.
“I see Kelly’s book as part of this same outlook. Women’s lives did not change all that much either. In fact, it’s arguable that any improvement in the condition of women came in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and, to return to the role of the arts, that is exemplified in the growth of the cult of the virgin. You did take in Notre Dame in Paris, did you not?”
“We did,” Damon asserted.
“The Notre Dame in Paris is only one of many churches and cathedrals with that designation, with equivalents in English and German and other languages. The cult of the virgin was paralleled by the rise of the medieval romances in literature, and the cult of chivalry and courtly love, such as the De Amore of Andreas Capellanus in the twelfth century. But I don’t suppose the medieval peasant was any more aware of the high culture of the times than his descendant in the Renaissance, or, for that matter, the factory worker today,” the medievalist insisted.
“You make an interesting point, Dr. Caldwell. As a student of history, I’ll remember that,” Bryce responded.
Soon after that, the two were permitted to depart. In their apartment, they fixed themselves some sandwiches, as the delicate refreshments offered by Dr. Caldwell were not sufficient to tide two young men over until after the fraternity meeting. Their sandwiches were not as artistic as his, but were more filling.
Shortly after seven o’clock, Bryce and Damon entered the SAT house on the fringe of the campus. There were quite a few more brothers present than the week before as they gathered in the large assembly room for the weekly business meeting of Sigma Alpha Tau. There was an air of seriousness hovering over the assembly, as everyone knew by this time what had to be decided at this meeting.
Promptly at seven-thirty, Curtis rapped the table with his gavel, calling the meeting to order, and instructing the sergeant-at-arms and his aides to close the door and not allow anyone to enter without permission. The office of sergeant-at-arms was an appointive one, and Curtis had asked Kurt Bordenkircher, the hefty football player, to serve in this capacity, one which he had also filled last year. After the usual opening agenda items and discussion of the upcoming Welcome Back party, the next order of business was the request for continued support for the soup kitchen. Bryce had asked Curtis to list this on the agenda before the matter of Lomax and Campbell because he thought that after that issue emotions would run high, and possibly distort a simple reminder of the decision made last year to include this along with the highway clean-up among the fraternity’s public services. There was no dissent when Bryce asked for a renewal of the commitment to supply volunteers, and he was asked to take names and times when the brothers were willing to help out. Just as in his class with respect to the study group, a sheet was passed about for the interested brothers to sign and indicate their preferences for days and times.
Then came the matter everyone was anticipating. Bob Balducci, as the senior officer on the committee appointed last week to draft the resolution, presented the result. The resolution had a number of “whereas”es which pointed out that membership in the fraternity was not a right but a privilege, that due process had been followed when Lomax and Campbell were dismissed from the ranks of members, and that they had been shown to have violated the code of conduct established for the brothers entirely apart from their guilt or innocence in the matter of the attack on Damon Watson, for which they had been expelled from the University. The resolution then concluded with: “Be it therefore resolved that the brothers of Sigma Alpha Tau, in regular business session assembled, determine that it is inappropriate to include among its members those thus found guilty of violating its code of conduct, and therefore decline to grant the expressed desire of the said McKinnon Campbell and Bickford Lomax for reinstatement as brothers of Sigma Alpha Tau.”
There was considerable discussion. Only a few brothers even attempted to argue against the resolution, and almost all of that was on the grounds that it would anger the Administration. Most of the discussion was about wording and possible consequences. Once again, the fraternity advisor, Dr. Dickinson, was asked to give his opinion. He responded, “I have researched the University policies since our last meeting, and I stand by the opinion given last week that the fraternity is within its rights to determine its membership, provided only that no discrimination based on race, religion, place of origin, or sexual orientation is used to disqualify candidates. That is provided in both the University anti-discrimination policy and the rules of the fraternity itself.” He complimented the brothers on the care they were taking in this matter.
With that, Curtis called for the vote. There were three abstentions, but no one voted ‘no.’ Curtis stated that he would deliver the resolution, along with the vote, to the Vice-President for Student Affairs the next day. He sighed, and added that he did not expect that to be a pleasant task.
Harry Dwyer said, “It’s the burden of office. At a time like this, I’m glad I withdrew from the contest last spring.”
For a time, Harry had challenged Curtis for the office of President. Bryce and Damon commented to each other that they were glad Harry was back, and had voted with the majority this evening. He really had been simply manipulated by his “campaign manager,” Cory Blaine, last spring, and was not quite the bigot he came across as being then, but more simply an unthinking echo of those with whom he associated.
When it seemed as though all the business related to the resolution had been taken care of, Damon asked for the floor. “Mr. President, I move a resolution of thanks to Curtis P,” he paused here, and Curtis gave him a threatening look. Damon grinned and continued, “Manning for the outstanding manner in which he has represented the fraternity in this difficult situation.”
Curtis objected that he was only doing his job, but Keith Hamilton immediately seconded the motion and called for a vote. The entire assembly yelled their approval, and the Secretary, Terry Hoffman, made a big deal of recording the motion and the viva voce vote. Curtis was clearly moved, and thanked the brothers in turn.
After the meeting, most of the brothers hung around for a while, rehashing the meeting, downing beer, and enjoying the camaraderie.
During this time, Curtis quietly approached Damon, and said, “If you so much as breathe a word about my middle name, I will see that you regret it.”
Chuckling, Damon rubbed his hands together. “It’s great to have so much power.”
“I already convinced your partner. How about if I assigned you as the one to contact all the brothers to make sure they turn out on alternate Saturdays for trash pick-up? Now that is power,” Curtis threatened.
“I think you convinced me. Your power is greater than mine,” Damon capitulated.
That evening, the camaraderie was especially in evidence. There was a feeling of unity in the face of a potential threat, a common enemy, not being sure what the reaction of the Administration would be. There was a spirit which could be summed up with Ben Franklin’s aphorism at the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence: “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”