The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-10-04
THE UNIVERSITY DEGREES.
Changed Requirements for The Degree Of
Master Of Arts.
VIEWS OF PROFESSOR R. B. DABfEY.
Suffering Entaiied by tho Old standard-The
Requirements OF the Course Not rs
sentiai to Liberal Education.
Tor The Times.l

over the changed requirements for the NJ. A.
degree. which / explained in a former letter
10 TIE TINES; few middlo-aged or elderly
men Of intensely conservative temper. who
view with alarm" any change Of any kind in
ANYTHING that existed in the good old times,
and some Of the young men who have so re-
Gently taken the degree that the glamor
surrounding it has rot We: faded from their
eyes. and who have not yet battlcd with the
world long enough 10 discover how vastly
more important is a welltrained, vigorous
mind than all the titles in tho world. Some
of these recent recipients OF the do
gree have addressed an open letter
10 tho board Of visitors protesting against
the change. They predict dire consequences
20 tho University from what they conceive 20
be a lowering OF the standard for this time
honored degree. And yet one Of them. upon
being questioned by me. confesses that no OBJ
tanned the degree only at tho cost Of much
suffering. and TINT he believes the same TO be
the case with most others. The late John
Hampton Cbamberlayne used 10 say that the
recollection Of the acute agony he had sui
fered In acquiring the title of Master OF
Arts was so vivid that for some years 1t was
painful 10 him to return TO the University.
knew well another gentleman, now de-
ceased, who said be had never known but
one master of arts who had not been weak
ened both in body and mind in the process Of
obtaining the degree. / am far from assert
ing that this opinion IS correct. but should 1t
not give US pause 10 hear men confess that
the ACQUISITION Of knOwledge-which ought
to he q joy-has caused them actual suffer
ing and PAIN
II is but natural that some of the young
men who have so recently suffered in this
manner should feel aggrieved that, after they
have borne the burden aud heat Of the day.
others should come in at the eleventh hour
and receive the same wages rs themselves. /
remember feeling a little aggrleyed myself,
when shortly after / had taken the degree,
the subjects Of history. literature and rhetoric
were dropped from the course, while candi-
dates were no longer required 20 write a
graduating essay or TO stand examinations in
their last session on two of the subjects
in which they had graduated in previous years.
To such rs now feel aggrieyed because the task
of those arriving at tho eleventh hour is 10
be lightened let me say that the object of
work Is wages. not the bearing of heavy bur
dens and oppressive heat. The more wages
and the less burden and heat the better. it
Is perfectly true that the burden OF the new
degree will be less crushing and the heat less
enervatlng and oppressive: but 1t is equally
true that the wages will be higher. The new
degree can be obtained without suffering aud
pain, and will strengthen instead Of s~training
the mind. As ii Is not the man who eats the
most, but he who digests the most. that enjoys
the greatest health and strength SO the man
best mentally equipped is not he who Grams
up for examination the greatest number of
facts. but he who digests and retains the
greatest number. The new degree will ele-
waite, not lower. the standard of the Univer-
sity. for the master of arts Of the future, not
being compelled 10 swallow a mass of mental
food that IL nauseOus TO himself. however
tOothsOme IL be to others, will not risk eject
ing even the wholesome and palatable yiauds
that he may already have consumed. Ii this
language seem strong, / would ask any mas
ter OF arts TO say candidly whether he has
not heaved a deep sigh of relief at the close of
more than one examination, and whether he
has not then cast out from his memory within
a fortnight half tho facts 80 laboriously
crammed into his plethoric brain.
ADDRESS TO THE BOARD.
But let us examine some Of the particular
in the address 10 the board of visi-
tors:
% The fame of the University must
largely depend on the requirements Of its
masters. A host of men have left these walls
bearing this honorable title" etc.
The assertion that a host Of men have taken
tie Nj. A. degree contains, ! fear. more of
than Of truth. OF the 40 students
at the University last session how many took
this degreeY Why Just three. Nor does it
often happen that the annual host hunters
more than five or six. Surely there is some-
thing rotten in the State of Denmark IL the
nnlC il Il lthAA1 dtUCuAl6 uilQU /
the requirements of half n dozen men in five
hundred. | am far from wishing for the day
when any degree OF the University shall be
awarded 70 nine-tenths of those whose
names are enrolled in the catalogue
but If three men are to carry off
all the glory while 476 are left in
outer darkness the time for q revolu-
ton Is come. Not one of these three would
claim for q moment. / am sure, that they
alone among the students Of 18yOp9l possess
autneirpf EnnWle1pc md hroipa 20 al ., 81.
University's fame. Such a claim would loo
met by a stentOrian gufaw. IL is perfectly
true, however, that many n clever anu am
bilious man leaves the University With far
less knowledge and mental training than
would be the case If the University offered ,
a degree that could be obtained without
the undertaking process OF cram, which SO ,
employ 20 obtain tho present NJ. A. g,
The fact that of all the students enrolled in ,
the last catalogue only 2O3 had spent
more than one year, only "a more than two .
years and only n moro than three years is o
very startling fact. Nearly all students who ,
enter the Northern colleges spend four years ,
IN study, while only a littlc more than two ,
ntths OF those who enter the University of =
spend more than n single wear in her .
halls, and only about one in eighteen STAYS as !
long as four years. Why is this Ia the pow .
erty OF the Southern people the cause Such !
cannot. l think. be the case. For a LARGE !
majority of the students at the University of =,
lutlauu, VIM arc poorer anu como from n I
social scale than those al our e.
own university. spend four years NJ that :
institution. Many causes may cooperate to .
drive students from our University, but none :
IS more potent, / believe, than the fact that. =
being told that the NJ. A. degree is the chief .
glory of the place. and that other degrees are '
mere high school affairs. unworthy of O seri- :.
BUS thought; seeing that only one in q hun !,
ired succeeds IA getting this degree, and see "
ng also that even that one gets it at the cost =
Of suffering and pain, many a student be- !"
zones discouraged at the start. and after per =
his work for one year in a half .
way leaves the University in disgust. 7
The truth is that the NJ. A. degree in its pres =
mt shape Is al incubus upon the University. -
her down and driving men from her y
walls. ~
RHKToRIcALF ASSERTION. 81
"a The great renown in which the NJ 8,
|. IS held, both at home and abroad. rests n
lpon two pillars: the immense field over a,
vhlch II extends and the high standard of o,
necessary for success In each de- ~
'artment Of knowledge" II
This assertion is also more rhetorical than IL
rue. Is the field really so immense Let ma .,
ee- IL contains no astronomy. for example IN
science marvellous for its accuracy and m u
IN tho grandeur Of is theme q,
ieology. too-that science which traces back te
ato the fabulous past the hi,tory OF the m