Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1889-09-13
How the Modern College is built.

The change IN the public estlmat'
ion as to what should entitle one To
the possession of a college diploma,
is no more marked than is the way in
which the most prominent of the
newer colleges have come into being.
The old idea was that the College
should have its feeble beginning, its
long period of growing attended
with the usual diseases of infancy and
requiring careful nursing in order to
preserve in il, the breath of life, till
finally if it survived the dangers of
youth it might confidently expect a
fair honest maturity. A College
was planted much after the fashion
of certain Western institution with
which the writer is familiar. Certain
men imbued with deep religious zeal
were led as they thought by provi-
Dental guidance, to feel that GER
tain young state needed a College.
They looked the county over and
they said here let us build. There
was no large town near and no as
surance there ever would be. But
there was plenty of rich soil, fresh
air, broad prairie and great trees.
The College was begun. One man
was president, secretary, treasurer
and faculty. a small room was
chapel, when the chapel exercises
were over, that room was used for
the class in arithmetic, when that
class went out the class in grammar
came in. So the days passed on to
years until when they laid the body
of the devoted one away to rest, a
large generation of educated friends
rose up to call him blessed.
That would do for seventy five
years ago. 1t was the way, the only
way.
But it has as much gone by since
this generation began its peculiar
work, as have the old methods of
trade and business life.
1t was easy fifty years ago for a
young man to start in business with
a few dollars saved by economy
from his previous wages. In this
day of great corporations and large
trusts, who is so simple as to mag
inc that the method of fifty years ago
can be successfully repeated. 1t has
gone by. A city is built in a day, a
territory is colonized between sunrise
and noon. The little enterprises
have no chance in competition with
the larger. One company fixes the
price of oil for a nation, another
does the same for beef, another for
coal and another for sugar. 1t may
not be right that such a state OF
things exists, but it does exist. and
all the masses can do is TO adapt
themselves to it until some better
means than is now visible appears
as its remedy.
This same state Oh .ifairs prevails
to large degree in religious and ed.
ucational spheres. 1t takes more
money to carry on the churches than
it used to. a College which fifty
years ago would be rich with an
endowment of $4,000, to day can
not graduate its first class on that
sum. Just as in any large business
it takes 100000 when once $1,000
was enough, so it is in educational
matters. We may say that it ought
not to cost more to educate a boy or
girl now than it did then, but we are
met by the fact that it does cost more,
and we cannot help it. We may say
that buildings and endowments
which were large enough for fifty
years ago are large enough for the
present, but they are not large enough
and the fact will not change to suit
our opinion. The first difference be.
tween the old and the new method
of building a college is that it cost,
more money now than then. The
second is equally important. The
modern College is built by money
gotten in very large sums from a
fe,o persons, if not wholly from one
person. 1t was once the case that
the pious financial agent could go
among the churches, and by personal
appeals to denominational pride he