The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1911-10-06

ton, President Benton said that bis OBJ
servation had convinced him that too
often the college has been made con-
venience to furnish places for teachers,
rather than to provide intensive teach
ing for the coming man and woman.
Personally. in the interests of stu
dents" he said, 81 should rather have
an institution with FIVE big men in it
as leaders in instruction than TO have
an institution with fifty little men on
its staff Perhaps, in the ordinary un-
dergraduate college, we should be able
to subdivide orr work into the five great
departments of linguistics, literature,
science, history, and philosophy. Five
towering men as leaders in these great
subdivisions of human thought, assisted
by younger men and women anxious to
win their spurs, would give an ecuea-
tional institution incalculable reach in
its influence and a guarantee of service
to its students beyond all power Of COM
putation. League players OF baseball,
prize fighters and wrestlers, will not re-
ceve larger compensation than college
professors, when we develop more col
lege professors of baseball league and
prize fighting proportions.
Zone of the saddest tendencies OF our
own day is the commercialization of the
college and the university presidency.
Certainly the president must be a sue
cessful business man. He should be a
publicist who commands respect for his
institution wherever he goes, but he
should be a scholar as well. The teach
er. let ii be said. should be a man whose
life is one OF conservation. The college
professor cannot do some things that
perhaps other people may do. The
drinking practice. which is prevalent
among some educational specialists in
this country, is inimical TO the develop
ment of the best manhood and woman
hood and the time is coming when par
ents who are anxious for the nurture
Of the highest type of manhood and
womanhood in their own offspring will
rise up and absolutely forbid the EN-
ployment of men as teachers whose
moral standards and practices will not
bear the closest inspection. The institu-
tions of higher learning in America can
afford to be unique in refusing to emu
late Europeans through avoidance of the
roistering, beer-drinking of the conti-
mental university clubs"
University's Purpose.
In conclusion. President Benton said,
"Let us understand that in order to
offer facilities which viii bring to us
the best students from other states and
which will enable us TO perform the larg-
est possible service to the youth of our
own state, we must sacrifice as we have
never sacrificed before A larger annual
support from the state, through every
added year during the near future, Is
imperative if we are to make the uni
versity of Vermont the commanding fac
tor it should be in our own state, in the
nation and the world Let private bene-
factors and state authorities apply the
scriptural injunction: Freely have We
received, freely give" In this spirit
shall animate alumni and citizenship,
our state university will make all Yer.
mont vibrant with its lofty purposes
and its splendid accomplishments, the
nation will rejoice with us in our pros
perity and the whole world will honor
us for the product of an intelligent
efficient and righteous manhood and
womanhood."