The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-12-21
Response of Trustees.

lure generations. very truly yours,
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER-'
Response of Trustees.
| The board of trustees in adopting a
resolution expressing grateful appreci-
alton of Mr.. Rockefeller's generosity,
ordered spread upon the records the
! following minute, a copy of which will
be engrossed and conveyed to Mr..
Rockefeller by special committee of
the board The minute was prepared
at a meeting of the board of trustees
1t reads:
| The board of trustees OF the Uni
versity of Chicago accepts the git
made by Mr.. Rockefeller in his letter
of December 13, 1910. and pledges it
self to carry out in the spirit as well
as in the letter the conditions accom-
panying it.
1T is now 81 years since. in May.
1889, Mr.. Rockefeller made his first
gift to the University of Chicago The
present gift marks, therefore, the COM
pletion of a significant period in the
history of the university throughout
which he has co-operatcd with other
friends of the institution, to place it on
| a permanent foundation. This final
gift will make the total which the uni
versity will have received from its
founder approximately thirty-five mil
lion dollars
I'VE know of no parallel in the his
tory of educational benefactions Of
gifts so munificent bestowed upon a
single institution of learning But
unique as they are in amount, they
are still more remarkable for the spirit
| in which they have been bestowed. Mr.
Rockefeller has never permitted the
university to bear his name, and con-
scented to be called its founder only at
the urgent request of the board of
| trustees. He has never suggested the
appointment or removal of any profess
sor.
whatever views may have been ex-
pressed by members of the faculty, he
| has never indicated either assent Or
| dissent. He has never interfered dl-
rectly or indirectly with that freedom
of opinion and expression which is the
| vital breath of a university; but has
adhered without deviation to the prin :
ciple that while it is important that
university professors in their con-
illusions be correct, it is more impor-
| that in their teachings they be free.
More significant still: this principle
has been maintained even in his atti-
| tude toward the teachings of a subject
! SO intimate as religion, wherein the
! mind is keenly sensitive to differences
! of opinion. Although at times, doc
trines have been voiced in the univer-
| sity which traverse those the founder
| is known to hold he has never shown
desire to restrain that freedom which
| is quite as precious in theology as in
| other fields of thought
ouCH bStHCcH d 5lCc'-
benefactor and the institution which
| he has founded affords a motto for
! educational benefaction through all
| time to come.
In contemplating the severance Of
| this long relationship. 50
gracious on his part, and rendered de-
| lightful by so many acts of personal
courtesy, the trustees are unable to ex-
press their appreciation of munificence
so vast exercised in a spirit so fine. It
! is the conjunction of the act and the
| spirit of the act which has made it
possible to create and maintain the
university and the trustees hope that
through ages to come the University of
Chicago. by training youth in character
| and in exact learning, and in extend
| ing the field of human knowledge, may
| justify all that has been done by the
| founder