Las Vegas optic., 1914-12-28
NORMAL PRAISED
BY FEDERAL
OFFICIAL
FoeHT SAYS ITS WORK is Elk.
CELLENT AND 1T SHOULD
HAVE MORE ROOM

That the New Mexico Normal Uni
versity needs room in which to ex-
pand and has won the right to de-
mand of the state increased facilities
is the opinion, of H. w. Foght, the Uni
ted States government educational
expert who recently visited Las We
gas. Mr. Foght, in letter to Presi-
dent Frank H. H. Roberts Of the Nor
NAL, makes recommendations as to
what the school should have in addi
tion to its present equipment. He
also speaks fayorably of the educa-
tional systems in the larger towns
and cities in New Mexico, but asserts
that the conditions In the rural dis
tricts present real problem which
will require considerable study and
hard work to solve. Mr.. Foght's letter
to DR.. Roberts follows:
Kirksville, Mo-, Dec. "a, 1914.
DR.. Frank H. H. Roberts, President,
New Mexico Normal University,
East Las Vegas, New Mexico.
My dear President Roberts:
| / have just returned hon9 from my
interesting and profitable investiga-
ton of schools in your state.
| found the schools OF the state no
better nor worse than expected to
find them. It is certain that on ac-
count of your bi-lingual situation and
the newness of the country, also the
isolation of the districts it will be a
long while before the educational
problem is entirely solved. Your
school men Of New Mexico have a
great problem before them.
| The schools in the larger villages
and towns were very satisfactory and
Iup-to-date. They approached the
standards to be found in the best of
the middle-western and eastern
schools. In rural districts, of course,
lconditions are, on the whole, not good.
However, l am glad to find so much
improvement in school architecture
over what it must have been few
Years ago. .
In regard TO your own institution,
permit me to say this: found it a
Very interesting school with a good
Istrong faculty and with student
body showing to an unusual degree
school spirit. A school where such a
spirit prevails must be working in
fullest harmony with its president and
faculty. The classroom work, so far
as I was able to study it, was very
thorough and up to the standard OF
the best in any section of the coun-
TRY.
The thing that appealed to me most
strongly was that you need more
room in which to expand. The great
state of New Mexico ought to see It's
way clear some way to give the Nor
NAL University a larger campus and
additional land for agricultural pur-
lposes. The whole block on which the
school buildings are erected does not
lbelong to the school Immediate steps
should be taken to purchase the rest
OF the block, and additional land for
the agricultural department. The
great demand at this time in a state
like, yours is for teachers qualified to
20 out and take charge Of the new
kind of farm community school which
is beginning to come in many parts
Of YOUR state. This rev work includes
an understanding of every phase OF
AGRICULTURAL life. 1t is hard for any in-
structor to fit teachers for it If he
must rely entirely on textbooks for
information. Land is needed for real
experimental purposes.
The school needs room for its man
ual training shops and other labora-
tories. Finally, it needs a place to
store its valuable and growing library.
expect to make full report OF
nv findings to the commissioner OF
education in a short while. At that
time | will send you more complete
report Of my investigation.
with the greetings Of the season, J
remain
~ Sincerely yours, '''iA'
sS'D y & H. W. OGFIT,
specialist in Rural qsehcOi' Praatiee-