The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-01-29
MANY ALUMNI MET
For the Dedication of New Building
of Northwestern University.

of Northwestern University.
Chicago. Jan. 2s.-In the presence
of an assembly of educators and
alumni from all parts of the country.
Northwestern Universitys new pro-
fessional school building, in the BUSH
ness center Of Chicago, was formally
dedicated to-day. In connection with
the ceremonies. there was a celebra-
ton of the fifty-second anniversary of
Founders Day, when President Had
ley delivered an address on The
Place of the Professional School in the
Modern American University"
President Hadley said, in part:
There are two traditional concep-
tons of uniyersity-the German and
the English. The German regards it
primarily as a group of professional
schools. 1t has its three faculties de-
voted to the learned professions of
theology, law. and medicine: and a
fourth faculty, which until the last
century was a sort of college of arts.
intended to prepare the pupil for the
professional schools but which has now
become faculty of philosophy. intend
ed for the training of teachers and
has these four faculties the German
gives the name university" to one
which does not possess them he denies
the right to the name.
Opposed to this is the English con-
ceDtion, which takes little or no ac-
count of professional training; which
regards the university as place where,
to quote the words of President Will
son many are trained to the love of
letters and science. and a few to their
successful pursuit A college or group
of colleges which does this is regarded
as obtaining thereby the right to the
title university Professional schools
naturally tend to group themselves.
about such colleges; but, in the opin-
ion of those who hold the English
view, they are mere accidents of uni
versity development rather than it's
essential features
II do not believe that either of these
views, in its extreme form, is correct.
l would not, indeed, deny the title uni
Versity to an institution which was sue
cessfully conducted, either on the old
English model or on the old German
model; but | believe that in each case
it would fall short of the full realiza-
ton of what a university can be and
ought to be.
If it consists almost entirely of pro-
fessional schools it tends to lose that
spirit of idealism which is important
at all times, and never more so than
in America to-day. 1t becomes practi-
call in the bad sense of the word, rather
than in the good one. If a university,
in Its efforts to be practical, simply
adapts means to ends in education and
shows it's Students how to do public
service, il does unbounded good. But
If 1T goes one step farther and con-
fines its attention to those things which
will bring a visible material return,
it does equally unbounded harm. 1t is
essential to the future of the nation
that there should be men who look at
the service rather than the return
men with whom things of sentiment
count for just as much as things of
business; and it is perhaps the highest
duty of the university, in its teaching
of science and letters, of morality and
of religion, to cultivate this way of
looking at things. If it fails to do this
it will, in an old country like Ger
many. become imbued with the spirit
of ofticiaism: in a new country, like
America, with that of commercialism.
ION the other hand, a university of
the English type is likely to fall into
dealism in the bad sense of the word.
II our pursuit of idealism msans that
we are inspired by noble and far
icdCLllIB iiIOllNCb, IL 10 SOOu IL IL
means that we do not know how to
give effect to these motives in every
day work, it is bad Without the in
fusion of a strong element of profess
sional study into university life, this
danger becomes a serious one. 1t is
the duty of a university to reach dis
interested service. If it's atmosphere
becomes exclusively professional it
teaches disinterestedness but not serv-
ice. 1t is our problem to combine the
two.
Fortunately, the American univer-
sity ideal, so far as 1t has been form
ed, recognizes the need of this combi
nation. There was indeed a time, a
hundred years ago, when there was a
tendency to copy the English collie
gate organization as closely as we
could. This was a period when profess
sional schools were founded wherever
they might happen to grow up. Even
il they existed in the same locality
with the colleges, they were more or
less out of connection and touch there
with. These isolated colleges and iso-
lated professional schools did good
work in their day. But the advantage
on either side arising from a closer
connection became so obvious that the
larger colleges, especially in cities,
formed a sort of nucleus about which
professional schools gathered in closer
union. BY the middle of the nine
tenth century this combination of
college and professional schools had
become established as the typical
American university. To this type all
our leading stitutions-denomina
tional or general, public or private
tended sooner or later to gravitate.
We may regard 1t as settled by the
logic of history that the American
university, for the present at any
rate, shall have both it's school of arts
as center of idealism and it's sew
eral professional schools as means Of
practical realization of the ideals.
MExICO,S TRADE GROWING.