The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1904-11-23
COLLEGE CENTENNIAL
WILL ATTRACT MANY.
Alumni and Educators Expected
to Attend in Large Numbers.


to Attend in Large Numbers.
The approaching centennial OF the
South Carolina College will be the
greatest event in South Carolina for
many year. The occasion is OF State
Importance and of'natioDal interest
The presence of representatives of the
universities of all the Southern States
and of some of the older Northern in
stitutions, such as Union, Brown and
Princeton, will attract the attention
of the entire academic world. South
Carolina College the City of Colum-
bia, and the State of South Caollna
will be in the public eye as not before
in decades. Considered from the
lowest plane of self-interest, the cele-
bration will be invaluable in its ad-
vertisement cf the State, the Capital
City, and the College-soon to be the
University.
ALI of the colleges, academies and
graded schools within the State will
be invited to send representatives as
guests Of the South Carolina College
and the City of Columbia. Each Of
the forty one couutles will thus at
tend il the persons OF school men IN
charge of the more important educa-
tional interests of the county, as we'll
as in the persons of the alumni OF
the College, who are useful men in
every walk of life. The gathering will
be unique in its representation of the
great forces for progress in the State,
now thoroughly recuperated from the
ruin of war and Reconstruction, and
entering upon an era promising unpre-
cedented prosperity Alumi, occupy
ing leading positions in nearly every
state in the Union, will revisit their
alma mater and the Capital City,
some for the first time since the 'SOs
and '9Os when Columbia was Compare
lively small and devoid of enterprises
and some for the first time since the
proud days before the war or the sad
davs of Sherman's Raid. Though
for some there will be melancholy
memories, the occasion for all will
be most glad. Foremost in every mind
will be the sentiment, A great col
lege for great State.
Following fitting usage, the South
Carolina College will signalize it's
centennial celebration by comforting
honorary degrees upon a number Of
men (chiefy residents CT the State)
whose achievements in the worlds
work deserve some marked recognition
on the part of organized society-the
State, through its leading academic
institution. At comparatively recent
commeucements, the South Carolina
College has conferred, though spar
ingly and with proper discrimination,
the degree of Doctor of Laws upon
such men as Edward McCrady, Hugh
Thompson. Asbury Coward, Henry
McIver. Joshua II. Hudson, William
a. Courtenay the degree of Doctor
Of Letters upon President Henry n.
Snyder; the degree of Doctor OF Di-
vinity upon such men as Bishop Ca
pers and the Revs. Lucius Cuthbert
and John A. Rice. On this, her one
bundredth birthday iestivity, the Col
Iege will endeavor to bestow with hE-
erality, tempered by d7e diserimina-
ton, the marks of her "weN done''
upon many friends and guests in all
walks of life who have by notable
achievement deserved well of the
State. The program for Monday,
9th of January, provides for the
'.conferring Of honorary degrees, .
after the addresses by the President
of the College, the Governor of the
State and the Mayor of the City. and
the responses by designated invited
guests.
AS to the propriety of the policy of
conferriug honorary degrees or degrees
for ctber considerations than pure
scholarship (which is not universally
approved by university mem the fol
| lowing qaotation from The Saturday
Evening Post of June 18th is to the
point:
"In general, honorary degrees do
| represent certain worth, even if not
high scholastic or other attainments.
They may not signify that one is
learned in the doctine of divinity, but
they do serve to indicate that one is
a clergyman of public efficiency or
denominational zeal. They may not
signify that one is learned in either
the civil or the canon law, but they
do tend to prove that one has made
worthy con ntribution for the better
ment of men. "-(From "The State, y
Nov. 5, 1904