Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1915-09-24
115 NEW STUDENTS.
College Springs Surprise in Entering Glass
Over 20 Per Cent. Gain. Opening Address
by President Thomas. List of
Freshman Glass


out. The opening exercises were held
Thursday morning at S:45 and were at
tended by 109 Freshmen, 60 men and
az women, 20 more than the Freshmen
present at the opening year ago.
Several more are expected to join the
class little later. In addition seven
new students in the upper classes were
present at the opening and there are
more to come.
The opening was held in the McCul-
Tough Gymnasium. The entire Faculty
of thirty three instructors was present,
except Prof. Mcfarland, who is still at
the military camp at Plattsburg. The
student body numbered 32O, which is 1S
larger than the attendance the first day
last year The college is making net
gain for the eleventh consecutive year,
a remarkable record
Noteworthy is the proportion of stu
dents from Vermont, "A out of the 109
tabulated by the registrar. Massachu-
setts comes next with %. There are 12
from New York, eight from Connecti-
cut, seven from New Hampshire, six
from New Jersey, two from Maine, and
one from Rhode Island. Other States
represented are Pennsylvania, Ohio,
and California. Cuba and Columbia
send each one studeet.
Several important announcements
were made at the opening. Hereafter
the men and women will meet together
IN chapel service each morning, in
stead of the separate services held for
some years past. This is necessary be-
cause neither the old chapel or the lee
ture room in Warner Hall is large
enough for the separate services. The
Mead Memorial Chapel will be finished
in few months, and as Joint chapel
exercise was planned when it could be
held in the new building, the Faculty
thought best to open the year with the
lew arrangement. For the present
the morning chapel will be held in the
gymnasium.
A chapel service will also be held
every Sunday at 5 p. M. required of all
students except those excused by the
Deans for urgent reasons. President
Thomas explained that this would be
chapel service, not sectarian, and that
students were urged still to attend the
churches of their choice in the village,
although such attendance would not be
required. Until the Mead Memorial
Chapel is completed the Sunday chapel
services will be held in the gymnasium.
They will be open to the public.
OPENING ADDRESS.
The opening address was by Presi-
dent Thomas. He took for his subject,
1.-The Old Record and the New Day."
and said in part:
Every student admitted to our num-
Der today has submitted record of
four years of preparatory work. That
record has been scrutinized carefully
and upon the basis of it the Faculty of
the college, through its Admission Com
mittee, has determined the student
fitness to pursue college work. Gre
dentials are often accompanied by a
letter something like this-I am un-
able to certify him in several subjects,
but | think he is more serious and am
bilious now, and | hope you will see
your way to admit him. Sometimes an
alIlmnuS or q hi,ainaac associate &c H.
applicants father. writes most urgent
letters asking that the student be given
a chance Notwithstanding previous de-
ticiencies, just one opportunity to re-
deem himself and show what he can do.
1T is hard to turn deaf ear to such |
appeals, but very wisely our Admission
Committee pay little attention to opti-
mistic prophecies based on general
considerations. They have learned by
sad experience that fourteen AS and
BIS in a high school record are worth
many quires of general admiration.
Their business is to scan the record, as
the judges watch the tape at the finish
of race, Indifferent to the shouts
from the grandstand. The only safe
guide as to what student will do in
college is what he has already done in
school. Not what his friends think and
hope, not even what they pray for, is
the index of what the college student
will do, but the figures which sum-
marize his ability and industry in his
previous endeavors.
In adopting this principle of judging
by the record the college is only follow
ing the practice of individuals and Or
ganizations in the world outside. FL
delity and bonding companies, which
risk millions of dollars on the honesty
of officials and employees, base. their |