The Curious Tale of Atlas College

Abstract

Atlas College, a liberal arts institution, was founded during the middle of the nineteenth century. At that time the Board of Trustees adopted as the school's motto the maxim of the Roman poet Juvenal, mens sana in corpore sano, “a sound mind in a sound body.” The saying attracted little notice over the years, but several decades ago a recently appointed member of the board complained at a Trustees' meeting that, while attending a reception to greet members of the faculty, he had found to his dismay that the school's professors were not physically well‐conditioned, most appearing either scrawny or corpulent. “How,” he inquired of his fellow Board members, “can these individuals exemplify the ideals of our College, if they fail to display soundness of body?”