The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-03-23
TAKES HIMSELF
TOO SERIOUSLY
THE AVERAGE COLLEGE PsEsi.
DENT FAILS TO UNDERSTAND
HOW THE WORLD 81
SEES HIM.

L " 49,
49, SEES HIM.
From the Brooklyn Eagle.
IT is much to be regretted that the
average college president takes him
self SO seriously. After all is said. his
is q narrow field OF vision. He is a
great man. chiefly IN the eyes of i1fs
undergraduates. Only, yesterday. tht
entire press Of the country was ask
ed to announce that Chancellor Day
of Syracuse University, had the
mumps! The Importance Of such q
startling declaration rests wholly up
on the fact that .Prexiee Day came to
the defense Of the dispensers Of
tainted money and at time when
Syracuse institution was discreetly
declared to be In need of funds.
Aagin. to the Republicans as wei as
to the Democrats was given heart
throb by the declaration from Pres.
dent Nicholas Murray Butler that Ell.
hu Root is his Candidate for the Re,
publican nomination next year"
Who cares =. but mustn't say IT,
One has to restrain ones self at
times. To put 1t calmly, what differ.
ence does 1t make whether Chancellor
Day has the humps to anybody but
him? What difference does It make
whom DR.. Butler, favors for the Pres.
idency to anybody whatever?
Just SO; but these gentlemen never
will comprehend plain truth. 1t Is
too simple. II 1t could be served to
them in an equadon-one that only
could be solved by the use Of iogar.
ithms or the cube root, then they'd
see how Indifferent the great mass of
the community are to their opinions.
That's one very admirable thing
about President Hadley of Yale. He
doesn't take advantage OF class.roos,
lecture to air his views upon Ameri.
can politics or mlmps. He attends
strictly to business. The atmosphere
of a college campus maks for narrow.
ness Of vision. The class room Is a
pen into which students OF various
temperaments, mental capacity. and
stofcaf Indifference are herded at
stated hours The college professor
has his hearers at the same disadvan.
tage that parson has after his con.
,gregation has gathered. It is bad
form to go out in the later case: to
leave means demerit mark in the
former instance. The victims In both
classes must grin ANA bear what is
handed out to them"
When one looks back over a four
or six years. college and professional
training, he marvels Mt all the nnin.
teresting transformation that was dis.
pensed to him. For example, to take
my own experience. l sat for part OF
winter listening to Prof. Louis Agas.
sig "disproving the Darwinian theory
which lis now generally accepted. al
recognition Of Its truth shortened the
days of the learned zoologist. In law
school, many OF us wasted two years
learning the procedure in criminal
cases, and now we have code that
regulates all such actions, not accord.
ing to precedent, but according to stat.
ate.
The ideal college professor of my
latter.day dreams was the Rev. Or.
McCabe, of the Ohio Wesleyan Uni.
yersity. He had the right idea of an
instructor. He kept the boys interest
ed! He was professor of mental phil
osophy: but after the first student
had recited. the old man would stand
up and give us an address suggested
by some item Of news he had read in
the morning newspaper. He didn't
pretend to speak for anybody but
himself, and he didn't expect his voice
TO carry beyond the confines OF the
lecture room. But he gave us talks
that not one student under the sound
OF his magic influence ever has forgot
ten. Politics, science. art, everything
but religion!
He was relative of the then ia.
nous Fighting Chaplain" Mccabe, a
man whose name was mentioned with
respect in every household north of
Mason and Dixon's line. He was more
Of a liberal education to the hundred
Youngsters who sat under him than
all of the books in the Curriculum,
Senator Foraker and Vice President
Fairbanks were in that same class