Three days after Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, signaling the U.S. entry into war versus the Axis powers, The Bates Student headlines its Dec. 10, 1941, editorial simply: “War.” The editors support the call to arms and acknowledge the humanity-numbing prospect of war.

Yet at the same time, they warn of war’s greatest danger: allowing hatred, particularly racial hatred, to consume the soul.

The nuanced approach reflects the paper’s gifted editorial leadership: editor Ralph Tuller ’42, who went on to a distinguished law career in the Boston area, passing away in 1994; managing editor John Donovan ’42, who became the DeAlva Stanwood Alexander Professor of Government at Bowdoin, passing away in 1984; and Norman Boyan ’43, an eminent educator who concluded his career as professor of education and dean of the Graduate School of Education at UC-Santa Barbara, retiring to the Santa Barbara area.

• Editorial: 'War'