The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-11-12
Especial from United Presso

dent Taft. Vice President Sherman
 Senator Elihu Root of New York, Ell
 mer Ellsworth Brown. commissioner oi
 education of the United States. a score of leading university and college pro
 fesscrs. dozen bishops of the Meth
 Ddist Episcopal church, and hundreds
 of prominent alumni and the entire undergraduate body attending the ceremones. William Arnold Shanklin
 former president of Upper Iowa 'uni- versity and a noted churchman- was Inaugurated the new president Of Wes- Ieyan University today
 Wesleyan is the alma mater or proo- ably more prominent MethodistS tn1n any other liberal arts college in tne United States. making tcday.s procseo- inrs of greater interest to Aetnooisn
 everywhere than anything that mas happened in the college world in the past decade This was indicated pS the presence of hundreds of Metnoo- iEts-churchrnen, statesmen ana pusi- ness men-who came from all parts .. .. the country to be a part of the vast attendance that gathered a1 the MIG dlasex institution today
 Al long program for the day was ab- Eorhfng in its interest from start 70 noteworthy than the conferring or honorary degrees by Wesleyan No university ever bestowed the honors or Its parchment upon a more oist.n- ruished list oc statesmen churcnmen and educators. all of whom bear State reputation, and a majority na- tional reputation The list included President Taft, Vice President Sner- man Senator Root. Commissioner Brown Bishop William Ebert. Presi- dent Nichols Of Dartmouth. President Duckham of vermont University, Pres ident Garfield of Williams. President Stryxer of Hamilton. President Mac Lauren of Massachusetts Institute of Technolosy. and GnanGsllor nT.,..r James 1he all received the degree of doctor of iaw&
 conferred on Rev. Richard watson Cooper, president of Upper Iowa Uni versfty. Rev George William Knox of Iowa Theological Seminary, and Rev. Thomas Nicholson. corresponding sec retary of the board of education of the Methodist Episcopal church Profes- sor Ashlev Horace Thompson of Co., lumbiaL, was given the degree of doctor of humane letters
 Though President Shankiin has been identified with church and educational work in the West for many years. his welcome to his new duties by the stu dent body alumni. trustees. the fac ultv. President Taft and Senator Root, besides the countless informal greet 1nE3 ana well Wfsn1n&S ne HS~Saec1 w@s ,s as cordial as any "dyed in the woof Fastener would have expected under the same circumstances
 In responding to the welcomes ac- corded him. Professor Shanklin gave out e compact digest of his views on what would be the governing policies pc his administration. His announce ment that "the fact still remains that fin afhletics lies a saving power" es- pecially appealed to undergraduates
 Dor 1F said In his address:
 Dr. Shanklin: It IS now little more than twenty years since, stand ing in your place, I assumed the re- you have been called It is an office that any man might well covet. who values the opportunities to serve his country and to contribute to the moral and spiritual elevation of his genera tion-
 q need not tell you of the burdens that win come with this office. nor of the anxiety about men and money that haunts the cold days of January and the hot days of July and August who. called to thts office. is sensitive to the meaning of this trust How ever. in spite of this sag in things. the perversity of Ten's minds and the frightening Of the purse strings where Wesleyanis gold lies concealed. there is an fdealism that works at the root of all life In that realm of spirit-Q ual mysticism, where the supreme the impulse that makes for those values the right way Never was the outlook more promising. The world itself with its ordinances, is organic to these ideals In your purpose to give currency to idealism, to keep this fountain of fife open and flowing. and to make life worth living in this free land. b0th-for the highest and the most humble, you will have the hearty co-operatfon of an enthusiastic stu faculty. a devoted board of trustees and a loyal body of alumni
 sDr. Shanklin, welcome you to the splendid task and congratulate you on the rare opportunity. May the com- pIetion of the decades as they come and go find you with eye undimmed. doing ever greater things through Wesleyan for the Commonwealth, the Nation and the Kingdom of God"
 President Shanklin's welcome at the hands of the other New England uni versailles was especially cordial The principal addresses of greeting from the colleges were delivered by Presi- dent Hadley of Yale; President Stryk- CT of Hamilton and Professor Harris of Amherst Professor w. M- Rice welcomed President Shanklin on be- half of Wesleyan's faculty; Arthur T. Vanderbilt, of the class of 10, for the unueTSfdOudleS ana Slep1Gn h. OAAas for the alumni.
 President Hadley said in part:
 '-On behalf of those who are to be your nearest neighbors and hope your closest associates, offer a word of welcome
 we sometimes hear complaints that the old days of plain living and high thinking are gone: that wealth has ov- erthrown our college democracy. that multiciplicity of studies has underrnin- ed our curriculum, that athletic and social interests have usurped the place In the mind of the student which rightfully belongs to intellectual pur- suits It is true that the educational problems of today are more complex and in some respects more difficult than those which beset our fathers The increase of wealth has made it harder to insist on simplicity of life: the increase in variety of studies has made ft harder to maintain unity of intellectual and moral ideals But the same high purposes which inspired the fathers stu animate the children