The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1920-10-28
INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF
PRESIDENT HUTCHINS

Constralneu US 10 introduce longer
as well as a shorter nurses course
will soon compel us 10 consider the
relation Of the work Of the two upper
classes Of the Normal School to the
work Of the lower classes Of the
College Department.
The war, with its revelation Of our
physical effectiveness, has brought
to the thought Of all the imperative
necessity Of carefully supervised
and universally adopted plan Of
physical education.
But, grant all that has been said
regarding the changing times, Be-
rea's essential task is changeless. II
Is this: Within the bounds Of our
enlarging equipment, to put within
the reach Of each Of those mountain
boys and girls who need II most, the
opportunity Of finding and forming
friendship with the best that is in the
word; the opportunity Of finding
ones self in ones work; the oppor-
tunity Of binding ones self in friend
ship and in toll to the friendly
power behind the world.
As ! understand t.. our task is TO
place the opportunities Of which !
, speak within the reach Of the noun
tain boys and girls Of the Southern
Appalachians. II is 10 this work
that most Of our endowment has
been given, and it is to this work that
the great majority Of our friends
and co-workers have dedicated them
selves II would, doubtless, be I'M
wise rigidly and absolutely to ex-
clude from our student body those
elements which would help us to cos
mopolitanism. but our task concerns
primarily and dominantly the noun
tain people.
Our task. further. is to place our
resources within the reach Of those
boys and girls who need 1t most.
II is a proud record which the last
twenty-eight years reveal--a record
of achievement on behalf Of those
who most need an education. No
boy shall be shut out of Berea be-
cause Of his poverty. This is our
resolution. II is easy to see how
we may be led away from our reso-
luton.
A poor boy comes to Berea. The
training he here receives sets him
upon the path to prosperity. He
wishes 10 send his child TO his Alma
Mater. The child has money, spends
money, meets with others who have
money and spend money. and within
a score Of years the scale of living
'>f,sr an entire school may be changed.
Or. again, a farmer sells his land
for its oil wells or coal mines. Pros
perity comes to the man, the desire
for spending is strong within his
child, and a spirit arises in the col
lege which excludes the self-respect-
ing poor man.
Or. again, the college wishes 10
strengthen its courses, particularly |
its laboratory courses. Apparatus
costs money. Nothing is simpler
than to increase the tuition and the
laboratory fees. and the man whom
we are definitely commissioned to
serve is excluded.
Again. scholarship becomes exact
ing. We must bring our school up
TO standard; our degrees must count
for as much as any degrees in Amer
lea. But improved scholarship means
longer hours for study. There are
but twenty-four hours in the day.
The hours Of labor may be limited
in favor Of hours Of study; and.
sgain, there is peril that the poor
man may be excluded.
. Again. we long to help the poor
students. We therefore wish to
house them in good buildings, but
the price Of building material and
Of labor advances. and coal may leap
from si.10 to ss.l5. II our fees in
crease proportionately to the cost Of
maintenance, We may again exclude
the very boy 10 whose education we
have dedicated ourselves.
But at this solemn time we pledge
ourselves TO this proposition: That
we shall continue to keep the path
from the cabin and the cottage to
the college wide and easy. And no
boy or girl shall be excluded from
the opportunities which Berea Col
lege has 10 offer, because Of poverty.
The student who faunts his pros
perity shall be taught simplicity and
democracy, or, II unteachable, shall
leave the school. II scholarship
tends TO suffer because Of labor, the
student may stay longer in the
school. or receive, as he leaves
school, a certificate indicating the
precise progress which he has made.
Building projects and plans for ex-