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

lCOnllnueu from rage ~
thrty-hvc years | had strong attach
ments to Middlcbury, both the college
and the beautiful village, and to the
State Of Vermont, in which my great
grandfather had settled on his arrival
from England soon after the Revolu-
ton, During my service OF fifteen
years in a church in New Jersey
had kept in close touch with the col
lege, and both President Brancrd and
Professor Walter Il, Howard had talk
ed with me cautiously Of the possibility
OF an official connection with it,
never had the slightest doubt that !
should accept a position in the college
il one were offered me My heart
sprang to it and | felt it was the place
above all Others in the world where |
would prefer to live and work,
Taking Inventory
Immediately after my election | be-
gan to take careful stock of the con
dition and resources of the institution
] considered that Middlebury was an
old college, chartered in 1900, twenty
seventh among the 600 odd American
colleges in order Of foundation Some
prestige ~Jtachli n en- tHstitaticn
whose records reach : long way back
It's very continuance far 50 many years
warrants the presumption that II has
a field for usefulness had often
heard the statement in Alumni gather
ingS, and indeed my father had told
me the same in my childhood, that in
proportion to the number of her grad
yates Middlcbury had sent out larger
number of distinguished men than any
other college in the country | could
not find statistics upon which to base
such claim, but | could not deny that
its alumni roll had been a worthy and
honorable one from the very begin
ming. What impressed me most was
not the few names Of great distinction,
but the very large number Of men who
in humble and difficult stations had
lived to great usefulness and honor,
Someone told me that Middlebury
was "a choice and aristoCratic college.
/ knew that could not refer to social
or financial position; | concluded the
impression must have been made by
the caliber of the men who had long
served on the Faculty men of real
learning, gentle, quiet, Christian souls,
who never thought to turn the whole
world over in a day, and who were
content to devote their lives to bring
ing young minds into fellowship with
the best products of the human spirit
in all ages old school New England
teachers, the noblest type OF men our
country has yet produced.
, The Equipment as ] Found 1t
On the material side the outlook was
not 50 encouraging There had been
no public financial statement, but as
President elect | was initiated into the
mysteries The campus and buildings
were appraised at S22j,0 600 conser-
Vative valuation Evidently there was
no estimate at a money value OF the
giant elms and graceful naples on the
old campus nor of the vista OF the
Green Mountains which bounded the
seen to this day no more graceful col
lege row than our old chapel, with a
dome which only the fathers OF New
England could have built, fanked on
either side by halls of like gray stone
in the pleasing lines Of the best colonial
architecture. On either side Of the old
college row had been erected in classic
marble a graceful Library and a very
worthy Science Hall Five buildings,
old and new pleasingly harmonizing,
a small college, but the beginning OF
an excellent plant.
! learned that the college endow-
ments amounted to S425, 600, yielding
an income OF little more than S2O,-
900 a year. The receipts from the 2O2
Students were very small so that the
total annual income was about SO 0Q0
There were only ten Professors the
maximum salary was $3.50 But the
college was not in debt, the books were
well kept and accounts carefully audit
ed, and | could not find that the col
lege had ever lost a dollar Of trust
finds through Unfortunate invest
ments The course Of study was limit
ed and strictly classical. Latin was re-
CURED for every student for five terms
No students could begin Chemistry UNI
til his Junior year. One Professor gave
all the courses in History Political
Science, Economics, and Sociology
another was responsible for Botany
Zoology, and Geology 1t was evident
that the college needed additions tc
its resources, not only for a more ade-
quate salary scale, but also to do jus
tice by its students in giving them d
modern education
To Him That Hath
There are certain foundations which
make it their business to assist educa
tional institutions and to one of these
| presented the situation of Middle
bury College. | had no difficulty il
demonstrating the need of the college
and received commentator as to the
management of funds and for keeping
out of debt. My hopes rose as The
gentleman in authority said: 81 know
Middlebury 1t is a fine old college
All the teachers | had in my boyhoot
who were any good came from Middle
bury, but"-well | remember how my
heart went down at that "but"-"I
can't do anything for you, Thomas
your income from tuition is SO small
There it was in plain figures i'll the re
port he had secured from me, only
Sl0S0 on tuition accounts from 20.
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