The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-08-13
GREAT UNIVERSITY?
Revival of Scheme to
Combine Colleges.
Rumored That the Next Legislature
Will be Asked to Put U. N. e., A.
& M. and N. & |. Under Gen.
trail Management.

How about q North Carolina UnlVer-
sityr embracing the three State lnstllu-
tons. the University at Chapel HILL
the Agricultural and Mechanical COZ
lege at Raleigh, and the Normal anu
Industrial College for Women at
Greensboro?
The scheme is a big one, but 1t mas
been coming gradually TO take Oh
more and more rOSeate hue. III llle
day-dreams OF some OF the foremost
educators of the State; and it is now
rumored perSistently in several lnflu-
entail quarters that before the Leglsla-
ture shall have adjourned next March'
it will certainly have been informally
preached to the leading lawmakers,
and, perhaps Incorporated into law.
The idea; which is by no means
new one, has been terminating for
years, and it now seems at the point
of at least developing so far as the
making of an initial move in the open.
why not?' said one OF the faculty
of one of the institutions the other
DAY. Instead of people reading OF the
Chapel Hill University, the A. u M.
College,, and Normal and Industrial
College, and all the inaccurate ana be-
lifting names under which these three
excellent Institutions are now report
time to time, the nation would sit up
and say North Carolina with uni
versity of LOO students! Why, that
is big news.
And vet ii is no more than we have
already, only the world doesn't know
it Nearly every university in the
world is composed OF various separate
ly constituted colleges, all under one
central board. That is the case in
IiSI, iva, .si-
ties. and practically the case in the lar
ger educational institutions of Amer
lea The three institutions in the
state should not be considered inde-
pendent of each other but should con-
stitute one great and compact organi-
cation based on the public school sys-
tenn of the State
The plan, briefly stated, is something
like this:
The three institutions named will be
consolidated under the name Of The
North Carolina University" and will be
placed under the management of q
president and an executive committee,
to be named by the Legislature. The
function of the officers will be entirely
executive and financial, and they will
supervise the three colleges at Chapel
Hill, Raleigh and Greensboro only
from the larger view of The Univer-
sity" while the three presidents of the
institutions viii become deans of the
faculties. Under this plan all the
money to be expended in State edu-
cation would be included in one large
bi-annuA appropriation and dis
tributed by the president and the exec
utive committee among the three insti-
tutions as their needs might require.
Other strong reasons to be ad-
vanced in favor of the plan is that the
expensive duplication of plants and
equipment could be stopped For in
stance, everything of mechanical or
agricultural character could be located
at Raleigh with the law and medical
departments if necessary; at Chapel
Hill, that quiet village could be devot-
ed entirely to the seat Of the higher
university branches of literary and
philosophical research; at Greensboro
the Normal and Industrial College
could continue to teach the girls the
Industrial branches suited to their
needs and prepare them, if they
wished to do so, to take the University
degree at Chapel Hill.
So that the North Carolina Univer-
sity'' would be composed of the scien-
tic. Mechanical and Agricultural Col
lege at Raleigh for men, the Indus
trial College for Women at Green's
boro. and the University College at
Chapel Hill for both men and women.
At the head of this comprehensive
scheme would be always the ablest and
broadest man who could be found ia
the State and the office would come TO
be an honor that would equal that o.
the Governor or the United States Sen
IatorS, and would be more deSira BILE in
that it would be held by one man so
long as his health and capacity re-
manned unimpaired.
While at the several institutions
themselves, the respective deans would
be unhampered by the worry incident
to taking care OF the business details
and could devote their time and enCr-
gies entirely to perfecting local condi-
tons affecting the educational work to
be accomplished
While the above is largely specula-
tive, it is a large plan that may be
nearer of fulfillment than may now APP
pear from surface conditions.