Carroll S. Chaplin, 1904

Our brothers’ careers have been productive, constructive, spirited, and prosaic. They displayed impressive skills, talents, and abilities They were, and we continue to be, a beautiful and lively expression of our enduring fraternal beliefs, and that underlying harmony is far-reaching in expectation for all brothers’, undergraduate and graduate. It is the core of what our fraternal founders asserted in 1848 and 1874 and 1899: to live active, commendable, and responsible lives, and to build up community. Clearly and compellingly, they added, and continue to add, positive value at the local, state, national, global, and fraternal level because they engaged life fully and responsibly. In short, they were authoritative pillars throughout life. They were-are exemplary in their citizenship, character, and their sense of dutiful responsibility, and, in many instances, they were leading voices in their career fields. They prove that success of any kind does not occur by luck or accident, and we remember them because they continue to provide that message for our time. We have long been, from one generation to the next, proud to be Omega Mu Fijis. We continue to cherish our fraternal friendships, our shared memories, and our evolving, forward-focused history at the University of Maine. These things, above and beyond everything else, are the underlying rooted connections that make us proud to be Omega Mu Fijis. Why, after all, should we believe otherwise? We have been doing it well since 1874, and we will continue to do so. Perge!

Omega Mu Portrait
Carroll S. Chaplin,
1904

Omega Mu Years

Library in the early 1900's

Living room in the early 1900's

Ivy Day

While the breezes are whisp’ring that Summer is near,
    And all Nature rejoices in Spring,
We are planting our Ivy with tenderest care,
May its increase the future years bring.
May it flourish and live; may it broaden and grow,
Even higher its branches still climb;
‘Till covered be all of our dear-college walls
Far down the long ages of time.
~as printed in The Maine Campus, May 29, 1906, page 329

University of Maine Athlete

Carroll S. Chapman, seated, far left

Carroll S. Chaplin, first row, second from the right

Valedictorian

Carroll S. Chaplin’s
Valedictory Speech

Last Mayor of Portland
​Until 1991

​Carroll’s warm, reflective valedictorian address was a simple, eloquent exhortation to the graduating class to remember their collective journey at the University of Maine. In many ways it was an unoriginal valedictory address, but it was the kind of message that is always pleasant to hear because his references and imagery were emotionally celebratory. He spoke of things that resonated in their still-active present collective memory: pleasure, enjoyment, friendships, and the life of the mind in studying, and that many of these memories will not persist in our memory but only diminish with time. That is a sad but real truth. Simultaneously, Carroll exhorted each graduating senior to ‘Persevere in all things’, and that is a timeless, uncompromising truth that does not diminish with time, age, or career calling that each senior would soon transition to around the country, applying their competence and skill to make an effective difference. And, after al, it was fitting that Carroll S. Chaplin, our Omega Mu brother, would choose to include persevere in his address. And, in truth, he probably was thinking of Coolidge’s admonition, which we all say regularly as Fijis: “Perseverance and determination are omnipotent.”
 
Undoubtedly, Carroll knew our storied fraternal past at the university, and he was proud of it. Persevere is a distinctive word, a commanding word, our rallying fraternal word, our collective doctrinal attitude as undergraduate and graduate brothers, our expressive word we love to say, and our grounding historic principle that we remain champions of in being fraternally committed and upbeat in all matters as Omega Mu Fiji brothers.
 
Carroll dovetailed persevere, with a proper perspective of the word, in how one lives and works in the world to make a difference as they each commence on their ‘little narrow foot paths’ to live in the world with ‘care and responsibility’. Care and responsibility, two words that really count in making a difference in allowing good ideals and good visions to become effectively real for the good of humanity. Carroll wanted the seniors to sustain the fond memories of their university years, but he wanted every graduating senior to persevere, to care, and to be responsible in their distinct career callings, their families, their friends, their university, and their faith as they each started their unique journey on the ‘narrow path’ Each word is a faithful word commanding in both word and action, and doing them, as Carrol so beautifully stated, ‘shall be the crowning of a ‘well-spent lives’ - ‘fruitage’. That is well-stated and can never be over-stated.

Carroll S. Chaplin’s home in Portland, Maine

Carroll S. Chaplin was a sharp young man, and his ‘narrow foot path’ led to a dedicated life as a lawyer, judge, and mayor in Portland, Maine. In the 1923 mayoral election in Portland, Carroll was aggressively opposed by the KKK. By the mid 1920’s, the Klan politically controlled seven states, and it was gaining organizational unity and strength in many Maine cities: Rockland, Saco, Hallowell, and Portland. Of course, Carroll opposed Klan ideology in its entirety: racial, religious, and political, and he openly expressed his criticism and condemnation of their intolerant beliefs, and he subsequently lost the election. He was the last mayor of Portland until 1991. Our fraternal history is richer because of the durable, persistent grace of character that guided Carroll S. Chaplin throughout his career. He truly understood and lived the virtues of responsibility and care. 

The KKK in Portland, Maine

In all that we do now, we continue to hammer home the virtue of our historic identity and how the sustaining, practical grace of a caring, persevering attitude is the sole reason for our historic pride at the University of Maine for the past 146 years. May we continue to ‘persevere in all things’ and not break the chain of our brotherhood as we continue on our historic path.
 
The conclusion of the 1904 graduation was the singing of the class ode, in tune with the University Hymn, a hymn that was written by our fraternal brother, Horace M. Estabrooke. In  conception, it is a mild, tender and comforting ode encouraging historic memory, love, and loyalty to beloved friends and the University of Maine. That belief mirrors our deep-rooted, generationally interlinked, fraternal belief as Omega Mu Fijis that we promote and foster from being Zobies to graduate brothers. Expressed or not, we believe, and have always believed, in simple perseverance, and to compromise on that is historically unthinkable! Perge!

The original score of the University Hymn written by our fraternal brother, Horace M. Estabrooke.

“What if the space be long and wide,
That parts us from our brother’s side
A soul-joined chain unites our band,
And memory links us hand in hand.”
​(Phi Gamma Delta fraternity song)

Fraternally,
Chip Chapman, ’82
Perge!