Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-01

| TWENTY-FIVE wears after Washington's
DEATH but while the matter of his bequest
| and his desire for the establishment OF dh
| institution of learning in Washington Were
| being discussed and considered. and the
| reasons assigned by the first President Tor
| an institution of learning at the national
capital were potent and perhaps deter
| mining influence for the location IN TINS
| city of Columbian College. The college was
! encouraged and patroniZed by John quincy
Adams, then Secretary of State; William
| H. Crawford Secretary of the Treasury
| John c. Calhoun. Secretary of War; Will
| lam Writ. Attorney General; Return ).
| Meigs. Postmaster General, as we'll as by
| many distinguished citizens throughout the
| country.
| In the first class of 1872 there were stu
dents from Maine. New Hampshire, Yer
| mont. Mass lchusetts. Rhode Island Con-
necticut, New York. New Jersey, Pennsyl-
| vania Maryland, Virginia. North caro- lna'
| South Carolina, Georgia, FlOrida, Alabama,
| Tennessee Mississippi, Louisiana. Indiana,
| Kentucky and Ohio - twenty-one of the
| twenty-four states and one territory-be-
| sides the District of Columbia.
| At a later period John Quincy Adams be-
| came it's special friend and patron. assist
| ing the institution in its time of need with
loan of nearly $4,000, and contributing
! as a donation $1,000, while he frequently
! visited the college to watch its progress.
! In connection with the college a medical
| school and a law school were established.
| associating in the educational work some
| OF the most eminent men IN the nation
| An appropriate ton of lands valued at $25,
| eco was made by Congress for the college,
and President Jackson expressed his APP
| prevail and the hope that this institution
| might in time realize the ideals and hopes
| of Washington.
MI William W. Corcoran. the distinguish
ed philanthropist of Washington was a sub
stantial contributor to the college. He
| helped to establish the medical and law
! departments by large gifts, and in 1873
gave 100000 ito make the college an uni
versity.' Congress thereupon amended the
| charter and gave it the name Columbian
| University. From that time there has been
| a steady growth and development of the
! Institution The university has now a de-
| partment of arts and sciences, undergrad
| uate and graduate courses, with 4J2 stu
| dents; department of medicine, with 3C6
| students; a department of dentistry with
| 81 students; a department of law, with 400
| students, department of Jurisprudence
| and diplomacy, with 10 students and courses
! for teachers, with 30 students. Its officers
| of administration and instruction number
| 2O6, and comprise among them some of
| the most distinguished men in educational
and administrative work in the country.
| Il has graduated 1850 students, comforting
in all 1858 degrees From 1921 to 1884 it
granted 1924 degrees to l,949 students;
| in the next decade it granted loo degrees
| to S95 students, and in the last decade to
1903, inclusive. 1t has granted 2,299 de-
| grees to 1,716 students. The university now
has in all departments Las students. and
every state in the Union, the territories and
the District of Columbia are represented in
| the student body, as well as Hawaii, Phil
ippine Islands, Porto Rico and Chill, China,
| Costa Rica. Cuba Germany Japan, Peru
and Venezuela.
/ Columbian College.
BY action of the board of trustees there
has been formed an auxiliary corporation
4 to be known as Columbian College" This
corporation is vested with the conduct of
~, No.
with the university, some of it's trustees
being members of the university board of
trustees, its highest official officer being a
dean, and the dean and professors. of the
college being members of the university
council No degrees will be conferred by
the college, the undergraduates going up
to the university for their examinations
and degrees.
1t is also proposed by the university to
| offer this plan of college organiza ton to
| other groups of persons who are interested
in establishing colleges in Washington with
| the view to having several colleges con-
Quoting undergraduate work connected with
the university and allied to it. Under this
arrangement the university will conduct
purely graduate and professional work
| leaving the undergraduate work to the col
leges.
The university has recently purchased a
new site, containing about five acres of
land, fronting upon the Presidents Park
! Immediately south of the White House. and
fronting south upon Potomac Park The
Potomac Park and the public grounds i'm
mediately around this site and along the
Potomac river contain over one thousand
acres. This park is being steadily i'm
| proved by the national government and
will be in time one of the finest parks in
the country. These public grounds will give
the students of this university the largest
opportunity for recreation and athlet tic
sports. On either side of the mall and
within walking distance of the university
are the permanent government buildings
and Jah n,. IT.
open to the student. AS the city grows and
, develops nothing can impair the desira biIity
OF TINS site; on the contrary, its importance
and desirability will grow with the increas.
ing number of public buildings around the
university.
, At the annual meeting of the general
alumni association, held March 10 1904
President Needham addressed the alumni
: stating to them the plans for the develop
| ment of the university in the erection of a
. quadrangle OF university buildings upon the
, ! new site at the foot of 18th street These
| plans received the cordial approval of the
alumni, and an important movement was
,, | instituted at that time having in view the
,, | erection by the alumni of building for the
| university, to be known as Alumni Hall
. | President Needham spoke of the influence
of environment upon education, illustrating
, | his remarks by views of the colleges al
i oxford and Cambridge, the two great seat.
of learning in England, where the influence
of surroundings upon education may b,
8 studied through the centuries of their de
velopment. OF this influence he said: "Nt
. one questions today the worth the strength
and the persistence of that race of mel
who have been educated in these institu
tions-men who possess peculiar traits o
| character that are not wholly the result O
book learning or scientific investigation"
Quadrangle of Buildings.
Describing the proposed quadrangle o
y buildings to be erected by Columbian Uni
{ | yersity, President Needham said:
q There are three buildings fronting OF
t 18th street, on the east side Of tho site. o.