Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1918-01-25

y cfinOnL ana inc Oppul lullNl'A w bNi-
uine service within the State, with the
result that Middlebury is the largest
contributor to the teaching forces Of
Vermont,
Just One Thing After Another
Growth leads to growth and progress
begets progress My story would be
too long were | to tell of all the gifts
of generous friends in the last ten
years, the Mccullough Gymnasium,
the Porter Athletic Field, the Mead
Memorial Chapel, Hepburn Dormitory
and Commons, the requests from
Henry NJ Barnum, DR., and Mrs,
George n, Boardman, DR., Henry +.
Walker, and Joseph Battell 1t may be
summarized in the statement that our
plant is now valued at S7lj,OOO three
times its appraisal ten years ago. our
endowments have been more than
doubled, and our annual income is
nearly four times as great, last year
exceeding Sl05,000 Our Faculty has
increased to thirty, several new de-
partments have been established, and
scientific course OF study has been
inaugurated. The Mead Memorial
Chapel is one OF the most beautiful
college churches i'll the country and
Hepburn Dormitory and Commons
leaves nothing to be desired as a resi-
dence for a hundred college men,
The College and the War
But we have still far less than an
adequate support for a strong and
worthy New England college. Other
institutions with only few more stud
ents have endowments three times as
large. Our Professors are underpald,
which means that in the long run we
cannot keep the best teachers. ! am
handicapped severely at every turn
bv lack of sufficient funds.
Moreover the war has placed our
college in an extremely critical situa-
ton. Enlistments in army and navy
have reduced the attendance nearly
80 per cent. OF last years Senior men,
all but three are today in the service.
One out of ten of our living graduates,
of all ages and including the women
in the proportion, is i'll the army or
navy The next draft will take every
able.bodied man in college above u,
80 per cent of the present reduced en-
rollment. Deficit and debt confront us,
and if the war does not close before
next September our situation will be
serious indeed.
A Way Out of Difficulty
Fortunately a generous friend has
made us conditional offer which opens
way out of our difficulty. Appre-
ciating the needs of the college even be-
fore the war depletion, he agreed to
give 100000 provided 100000 ad-
ditional was subscribed before July !,
1918. the entire sum to be for eudow-
ment. 1t has been arranged that pay
ment may extend over three years,
with interest at five per cent from July
/. Success in meeting the terms OF tins
offer will tide us over our present
difficulties and enable us to make a
very pleasant advance when the normal
attendance is restored after the war
More than $4,000 has already been
subscribed by alumni and friends OF
the college.
Make Your Liberty Bonds Doubly
Useful
appeal for subscriptions for this
endowment fund, conditional upon
the pledge of the entire amount before
next July do not want any money
which belongs to the Red Cross or the
y. NJ. c. A., or which should be i'll
vested in Liberty Bonds. But | may
remind you that the bonds will do the
country just as much good i'll oui
strong box as i'll yours, and we would
prefer your payments in Liberty
Bonds. so many of our alumni are
pledging us their bonds that we are
calling this The Liberty Endowment
Fund
President Wilson has urged that al
colleges keep open and that full
courses be maintained with a view tc
the urgent need of even a greater mum
Der of trained leaders in the future
We shall do our best, but we mus
have help to do it, The unparalleled
services of the college to the nation ii
the war justify this appeal on the
ground of patriotism. The nation can
not afford to allow its colleges to &C
down 1t would mean the closing o
the public schools i'll ten years io
lack of teachers and the ruin Of Ameri
can business and industry which have
come to depend largely upon the col
leges for men i'll important positions.
For the Boy With a $12 Start
No better material is offered to any
college than the youth of slender mean
who have turned naturally to our mod
est college for over century. The.
are deserving of the best advantage
we can offer them. 1t would be
thousand pities if this sturdy old Yer
mont college, which has moved on tn
upward path so vigorously in the las
few years, should be forced down agaii
because of the patriotism of its stud
ents. In these circumstances you ma,
feel how earnestly ask for your assist
ance in preventing that result.
John NJ Thomas.