Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-09-28

sitN of Vermont were held yesterday
| morning in the gymnasium, there being
a large attendance Of faculty and stu
dent members and their friends. The en-
tering class bids fair to exceed the pre-
| vious record of 100, made last year, but
due to the fact that enrolment is not yet
complete, and that some who have regis
tered in all probability will not show UP.
no degree of certainty can accompany my
statement as to it's size However out of
21l students, l0i men and II women who
had registered. 2iS have taken their ox-
aminatons and have certificates of al
/ mission.
/ The list Of these 2lS prospective students
| contains the names Of some who are not
now expected to attend, as it nkewtsr
omits some who have since enrolled Tho
total enrolment of new students yester-
! day was 1873, 1872 being men and 61 women.
| while other names will be added to-da'
! the correct list being ready for publica-
! ton tomorrow Last year, the previous
/ high water mark, the enrolment to:a,ed
1870.
The exercises were opened with the
singing of Duke Street by the assembly,
| alter which Dean G. II. Perkins of tGe
college of arts and sciences read the Scrip
ture lesson and offered PRAYER. The preei-
dents address followed an anthem, BE
Thou O Cod" by the choir President
| Benton said, in part:
students Of the University of Vermont:
! half century ago the State of Yer.
mont gave more soldiers to the Union
army IN proportion to its population than
any other of the loyal states In the
hour of national peril the University o..
! Nermont-this institution to which YOU
now belong and which found its origin
one hundred and twenty-five years ago
colncident with the admission of Yer
mont as the fourteenth State of the
| Cnion-hos never been wanting in its
offering of mon. The north wall of our
chapel on this hilltop supports a mar
Bile tablet upon which are inscribed the
names of the men who went out from
| University of Vermont il the sixties to
| put their lives upon the altar of Col:r-
try that the nation might survive. Sit
ting morning after morning, during our
worship with those imperishable names
! looking down upon MS, we may catch the
spirit of fearless loyalty to keep us eve"
ready for succession in the trail of honor
the students of other days have left be-
| hind
AS evidenced by recent events this
spirit of genuine patriotism is still alive
on this historic campus In the early
morning of the nineteenth of June. of this
present year, when the President of the
! United States gave orders for the mobili-
zaton of the National Guard to mae
ready for service on the Texas border, or,
if need be, in the turbulent countries sou /.
of the Rio Grande, this ancient and hon
orable institution Of learning made quio X
response Company and the medical
corps Of the First Vermont Regiment
composed of students from the University V
of Vermont, soon after dawn, had pitched
their tents on the University grounds.
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ANSWER
CALL.
A week later these brave Green Noun
tain Boys of 1916 took train with the 7
gallant Colonel. the Vermont college prcsl-
dent who had been their commandaiit
and teacher for three years in the Uni
versity of Vermont. They knew by hls
record made in Cuba and the Philippines
that he was a soldier tried and true and
they We're ready, if need be, under his
leadership to follow on to honorable death
Gladly those patriotic Vermont students
freshmen, sophomores.. juniors and
, seniors,-faced southwark and in due
time. detrained at Eagle Pass. Texas
There, as the first company of college men
-, in the United States to answer the cal
of the President, they have stood bravely
all summer long in defense of the safety
| and the honor of the country bequeathe'
Q to them by their heroic forebears To.
/ day we welcome our soldier boys back tC
\ their college home for the resumption o:
. their studies. They were willing to fight
. if fighting had been necessary. and tha,
= 1t proved to be unnecessary detracts not
one whit from the immortal glory Of theil
4 inspiring example true soldiers of thc
4 republic.
d These historic facts should be record
G ed for the inspiration of coming genera.
y | tiuns of students in this institution Now
6 that the danger Of war with Mexico il
d mo longer imminent, these soldier students
. OF ours have shown equal bravery ~
T standing upon their rights in demandni
h the privilege of return to college, wher,
they may make the largest preparation
. for the responsibilities to which active If
g In later years may call them either a,
citizens or soldiers Captain Cootev a.
: Company G, now AN alumnus of the Uni
versty of Vermont wrote to me tina
q the students under his command had l.f
Vermont in June a company of boys h,i
- he assured me they would return a com
J pany Of men.
a The University of Vermont was ,h
a only institution in the United States tha
sent two companies of student soldiers I,
the Mexican border in response to the cal
OF the President during the recent crisis
Hese men are III our mast now and thcl
experiences on patrol, in the burning hea
s and irritating sands of Texas, hav
doubtless given them larger fitness 70
a student leadership that will he helnfr
" to all Of us who are to live with them i
academic fellowship,
Is NEW AND PECULIAR AGE.
et We are living in new 'and peculia
N age. Civilization comfroutS a WarrIu
ID Europe, a troubled Mexico and a rest les
$. United States Of America. The events q
IN the past two years have changed tn
ut points of view and altered the convi,
n IONS and ideals Of many thoughtful PEE
te pie | must confess to n modification I
40 my own views since delivering the openin
~ address on the threshold of the colley
ia year IN l9l4 At that time | expressed
a., as my earnest conviction that the Unite
~ states should lead the nations of the en,t
~ toward the day-daWn OF the era VIII,
swords should be beaten into mo
le shares and spears into pruning hooks
IN still hope for the early coming of un
We versal peace through world-wi disarmf
at ment and | believe that the league to ef
torce peace may become the instgumenta