Two Rivers Run by Campion

When, 80 years ago, the Jesuits came to southwest Wisconsin to found a school, it was to an area rich in natural beauty and historical lore. Sharing this beauty and shaping this history were two mighty rivers, the Mississippi and the Wisconsin. Fifty years later, when Father James Daly, former English professor at Campion and personal friend of Joyce Kilmer, was asked to compose a poem to honor Campion's golden anniversary, he chose as theme these two rivers that run by Campion. He compared the students' lives and training to the two mighty rivers that run by her doorstep, for both run on far beyond Campion - - the rivers on to the distant ocean, and the boys' lives on into adulthood and finally to Eternity. The 1960 Knight adopts this theme and attempts to show that Campion is truly "the nursing mother of men" to the "young streams of life" annually entrusted to her.