Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-02
LIKE A LARGE FAMILY
Relations of Faculty and Stu
dents at Amherst.
AIM OF COLLEGE Defined
Endeavors to Qualify the Young Men
to Be Good Citizens.
HAS COURSE IN CRAFTSMANSHIP
Encourages ALI Manly Sports, But
Does Not Permit Them to Inter-
fere With Scholastic Pursuits.
HAS COURSE IN CRAFTSMANSHIP

fere With Scholastic Pursuits.
BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald
AMHERST Mass. June q, 1907
The graduating class at Amherst Is the
smallest in many years, there being only
sixty-five members, who come from Mas
sachusetts go New York QD, Connecticut
90, Illinois and Missouri leach -, Penn
sylvania, Vermont and Japan leach y,
Maryland, District of Columbia and Wash
ington q EACH.
The average age is twenty-one years and
four months; 80 of the graduates are re-
publicans, democrats and one indie
pendent. The vocations they have chosen
are unusual; 20 go into business, teach,
study law, l studies theology become
engineers, 1 a doctor of medicine. 1 mu-
stefan, a newspaper man, 1 secretary of
Y. M. c. A, and the remainder are unde-
cided. Hugh Hartshorne Of Methuen,
Mass, has taken the highest honors and
more prizes than any of his classmates.
His marks are higher than those of any
man who has graduated for several years.
Henry Hall King of Rutland. Mass, ranks
second. Albert Edward Rand Of Provi-
dence, R. L. third. John Houghton Hub
bard of Hatfield, Mass. was voted the
most popular man in the class and the
member who has done the most for the col
lege. He is an athletic hero, foot ball and
track captain and the first man from Am
herst who ever made the all-American foot
ball team. Bruce Barton of Oak Park.
ILL.,. in the opinion of his classmates, is the
best all-around man in his class. the most
representative and gives the greatest
promise of success in life.
President Harris says that the class of
1907 is just an average lot Of fellowship
telligent, practical, useful. well-rounded
men, who are likely to make good citizens
and succeed in life, but there are gen.
to hear that any of them have set the Con-
nectieut river on fire.
Aim to Make Good Citizens.
More than half of our students come
from outside the state Of Massachusetts,"
said President Harris; about one-fourth Of
them from New York and the remainder
from forty different states. Amherst is
getting to be college for business men.
In the early days most of our graduates
went into the ministry. Now not more
than or 10 per cent of them adopt that
profession, and at least 80 or 35 per cent
of every class go into business. We en-
deavor to qualify our students to make
good citizens, to give them general culture,
not too much of anything, but enough to
fit them for any duty they may be called
upon to perform. Business men are realiz-
ing more and more the advantages of a
college education, and / do not know Of
any institution that gives more evenly
balanced, useful course than Amherst
Perhaps more of our graduates become
teachers than adopt the other professions
We have a large list of college professors
in our alumni. 1 think there are fifteen
Amherst graduates in the faculty of Column
bia University alone. And. of course. We
oNp frih TO nyrr n n fhn toot onI fhn
legal professions. But l should say tat If
Amherst has any specially it is the educa-
ton OF business men. and that feature of
our work here, l find, has attracted the
attention Of other educators.
A Foreign Educators Appreciation.
Last week Prof. Munsterberg> of Har-
ward. in an address at the seventy-fifth
anniversary of Lafayette College, Pennsyl-
vania, compared the systems of education
in the German universities and the Ameri-
can colleges and demonstrated the need of
classical and economic training for bust
ness men. He said that the city of Ham
burg had recently decided to establish an
Institution for higher education. 1t is the
greatest commercial center in the German
empire, and in recent years a sentiment has
grown up among the leading citizens that
It ought to be center of intellectual in
fuence well of commerce. He was
invited to suggest the plan of an institu-
versity upon the substructure of an Ameri-
can college. He said that Harvard was
his model, of course because he knew Har-
ward best. But he continued, I know
many lovely town in my fatherland
where an Amherst or a Lafayette would be
a blessing for the true progress, and
shall never forget to add with an en-
thusiastc heart that a Bryn Mawr and a
| Wellesley and a vassar must follow, and
from Germany 1t will spread over all the
European continent.
Prof. Munsterberg has shown an ac-
curate appreciation of the policy of our
trustees and our faculty. . We are con-
sentative in our policy. but progressive in
our methods. Amherst is a democratic
college; we put on no airs; we have no
fads; we create no sensations; we adhere
more strictly, perhaps. to tradition. than
the majority Of Institutions; we do not
care to increase our numbers and will be
satisfied with 800 undergraduates. We
have the faculties for giving that number
of men a good, solid education and can
take care OF that number very comfortably
Doesn't Aim at Bigness.
1--WE prefer to improve rather than en-
large our facilities. Our ambition is to
give limited number of students the best
education that they can get rather than
have a large college. We don't pretend
to be a university. and in some respects
Amherst may be considered old-fashioned,
particularly because we require a high
standard in everything and all our stu
dents must study the classics. About
nine-tenths of them take the B. A degree
and about one-tenth that of B. S.
I'VE have fine scientific equipment and
especially good faculty for scientific
work, but we don't specialize.
''Old Prof. Hitchcock, one of our earliest
instructors. who brought a great reputa-
ton to Amherst was an eminent geologist,
and have had other famous scientific
men among our faculty. We pay especial
attention to the modern languages, and in
addition to the regular classroom exercises
the students have conversation clubs and
dramatic societies which give play in
French or German every year. Next year
they will undertake to give a play in Ital-
ian, which is the most ambitious effort they
have ever made.
I'VE give special attention to art also.
and have developed the department of fine
arts to high degree We have recently
added course in Greek literature in Eng
lish for the benefit of those who have not
mastered that language Quite a number
of students have taken it and it is growing
in popularity. Yale and Oberlin are the
only colleges that give much attention
to music as we do. Our department of mu-
sic, under Prof Bigelow, Is not intended
solely to give instruction on the piano. the
violin or other musical instruments We
go higher and farther to teach the theory
of music and cultivate the taste. We have
an orchestra and a choral society and the