A Reflection on the University of North Alabama's Japanese Lantern

Dr. Butler Cain, Professor of Mass Communication

Lanterns have long been one of my preferred symbols. When you’re walking through the fog of life, a hand-held lantern cannot illuminate the full path ahead. However, it provides ample light to ensure your next step is on solid ground. Step by step, the path reveals itself. A lantern is both a guide toward progress and a powerful symbol of faith.

The University of North Alabama’s Latin motto is Veritas Lux Orbis Terrarum: “Truth is the Light of the World.” Along busy Pine Street on the western side of campus, an authentic granite Japanese lantern has stood for more than two decades as a representation of that ideal.

Carved by hand circa 1700, it was donated in 2005 by Dr. Dan Howard, former UNA Vice President for University Advancement, and his wife, Anne. A stone marker describes the lantern as “a symbol encouraging an enlightened quest for truth and engagement in allocentric behavior.” Allocentrism is focusing interest and attention on other people rather than one's own self.

 

When the JASA Board of Directors visited UNA for its quarterly meeting this past July, we stopped at the lantern during a campus tour. I am a UNA faculty member whose office is near the lantern, and I have been taking photographs of it during different seasons. I hope you enjoy them.

 

 

(clockwise from the top left) The UNA Japanese Lantern in late spring, summer, the fog, and winter.