New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-10-18


university administered on such poilcy ~
fraud and q delusion. Trustees are prop
erly custodians Of the physical and hhanci"i
implements necessary 20 enable teachers anu
students 70 work under the banner OF one
article Of faith aone-"Ye shall know the
truth and the truth shall make you free.
Truth Supreme
A university is an institution IN ""Io"
men who have been called and trained Ior
noble spiritual ends are enabled, by the pro-
vision Of living salary By command over
the disposition of their time, and by the as
charge Of the duty TO give reasonable
amount Of instruction, 70 dedicate themselves
wholly 10 investigation and reflection upon
the problems Of nature and human nature
and their interrelationships and to commu-
nicate 10 youth fitted TO receive such com
munications. not only the results, but, still
more vital, the methods and attitudes Of
mind by which knowledge IS discovered IN
sincerity of spirit and propagated in the
reverent faith that by knowledge OF the truth
is man made the free arbiter Of himself ana
his world. The all too prevalent notion that
a university is a place where men are palu
TO teach only whatsoever propositions are
agreeable TO the trustees personally, or 70
that part Of the public whom tney are as
sumed. often mistakenly, TO represent, II APP
plied literally would kill the spirit Of intel
lectual and social progress and produce
either Chinafed civilization or a relapse
in barbarism. If l must accept, in order 70
do nv work, the dictation of men who nave
no expert knowledge in my field, my sup
posed position and influence as scholar pc
come a mockery. In such case 10 call an IN
sttution an organ for the discovery ana
propagation Of truth is lie.
II is a striking testimony to the prevailing
good sense Of trustees that comparatively
few serious cases Of interference with I'D
erty Of research and utterance now occur.
But, so long as professors have no legal
status in the determination and execution OF
university policies with regard to the terms
of their own tenures, and especially with re-
gard to their duty to exercise independence
Of spirit in research and utterance, Just 50
long will the danger that such abuses may
multiply be imminent In fact, 1t is likely
that. in a time Of transition and reconstruc-
ton with respect to the whole fabric of civil
ization such as is now upon US, such abuses
may become more frequent and minds most
seminal and fertile may be inundated and
choked off. For the fertile mind does not
always 20 with the fighting blood OF the
martyr, and. in any event, 1t does not tunc-
ton to best advantage when the sinews Of
war are removed.
The Democratic Theory
The way to build up university that will
measurablv approach the ideal Is 70 give TO
professors a legally established participation
in all matters of educational policy, to give
them a voice in determining the conditions
Of tenure, election, promotion, demotion and
dismissal in their own ranks, especially IN
so far as these procedures touch freedom Of
research and utterance. II the professor IS
sometimes irresponsible It is largely because
he is not given sufficient responsibility. The
democratic theory of society is that the way
TO make men responsible is TO make them
free. The way 70 get more virile and eff
cient professorate Is TO make the calling
more free and responsible to its own ethics
and ideals as company OF men associated
in the high calling Of the discovery OF truth
and its application 10 social welfare.
Much of the criticism and many OF the
shortcomings of university presidents are
due TO- the difficult, yes, at times impossible,
positions which they are forced to occupy
as at once the sole official go-betweens for
faculty. trustees and the general public, as
the sole official representatives Of the uni
versity's work, and business agents as well.
Let university organizations be reformed
so that the trustees become legally what they
properly are now, custodans of the business
interests Of the universities; let them, IN all
matters of educational policy and profess
serial conduct, be associated with represent
atives of the faculties; and let the presl-
dent cease to be a Johannes factotum Jack
of-all-trsdes) and become the chairman and
chief executive agent Of the faculty an
educational leader The latter will prove a
hard enough job for any educator Such are
in fact the actual or customary relationships
which now subsst, in the most tremendously
working universities, between trustees, presi-
dent and faculty But the legal constitu-
tons Of American universities, with but few
and partial exceptions, are far from embody-
ing either the ideal rejecting the best
practice OF to-day.
Columbus Ohio, Oct. Il, 1917.