Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-09-28
WOMAN WHO IS
/ HEAD OF GREAT
.WOMARSCOLLEGE

| When, with the reGdening leaves OF
October, Mount Holyoke College Gel
ebrates its seyenty-fifth anniversary,
1t. will celebrate another feast-that
in honor of, its woman president,
Mary Emma Woolley. For this col
lege for women, set among the Mas
sachusetts hills not far from the
shadow of Mount Tom, distinguished
as one of the first institutions in this
country to foster the higher education
OF women, has also the unusual dis
tinction of being one Of the few wo,
mems institutions of learning, over
which a member of that sex presides.
Those who. best know Miss Woolley
would be quick to add that the distinc-
ton rested not merely in having a
woman president, but in having such
a woman to fill that office.
That Miss Woolley possesses an un-
common personality and rare attain
ments is certain. Perhaps her most
salient trait is broad sanity and bal.
ance. The daughter Of Congrega-
tional clergyman, born to the unoS-
tentatious refinemehts which are part
of the typical New England minister S
household, this woman of strong char
tecter soon show ed that bent for learn
ing and that modern" spirit, in the
best sense of the word, which were to
distinguish her in after life. She was
one of the first two women to try for
and obtain the degree of A. B. at
Brown University. From the same
institution she won the degree Of A.
M; and some years later Brown Uni
versity conferred upon her the hon.
orary degree Of Lift. D. To this was
added the L. H. D. from Amherst Col
lege and the LID from Smith.
Ability As An Executive.
The president of Mount Holyoke
who has ruled it's destinies since July,
1900. is capable executive. She has
proved that she can administer large
affairs and sit in council with as
much ease and aptitude as if these
things had been the natural and ex-
elusive endowments of her sex. She
carries grave responsibilities, and
faces nearly every day important de-
cisions. and maintains through it all
her poise She has an unusual SIM
plicity, and wears her burdens and
her honors with graceful dignity.
This dignity is part of her fine
presence, whose effect is felt whether,
as president of Mount Holyoke and
fellow women, she is giving sound adj
vice to an undergraduate who has
sought her counsel, or as leader of the
woman's movement, she is addressing
a mature audience. Miss Woolley is
a markedly successful speaker. She is
never at loss for the fitting word, the
appropriate expression; and she has
a voice of quiet carrying power and
low tone, so low that its strength is
deceptive at first. Those who heard
her at the missionary meeting at the
close of the wonan's campaign of
1911 will recall this clearly.
The meeting, as, many remember,
was held, in Carnegie Hall. The big
auditorium was packed. Miss Wool.
ley presided-no easy task in so large
a meeting. Every one had something
to say, and was trying to say it in
chorus. The presiding officer rose to
the emergency and kept order in a
way that was a surprise to many. No
small part of her success lay. in the
fact that her even, welkmodulated
voice carried to the farthest corner of
the hall.
= Part of her ability as a speaker is
due to her lifelong habit of careful
preparation before appearing upon
the platform. Part of it also must be
attributed to practice. Her dozen
years in the presidency at Mount Hol-
yoke have been full ones, in which
there have been many addresses.
Moreover, she conducts the chapel
services each dav and TINS has CON