Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-02-11
BEST is NONE TOO GOOD
FOR OUR GREAT UNIVERSITY
Old Penn Deserves the Highest Type Of
Provost Procurablc and the Most
Abundant Measure Of Popular
PHILADELPHIA Support

FERTILIZATION that this is college
town returned to Philadelphia
Yesterday when announcement was made
of the resignation of Provost Smith.
Consciousness of this fact is, however.
intermittent 1t is, indeed, so rarely re-
current that the truth is often disputed.
The relationship of the University Of
Pennsylvania to its birthplace is frc-
duently msjudged, misconceived, under
valued. Much foolish cant is spilled.
Diversity and magnitude of interests in
great metropolis are advanced to cover
attitudes of Indifference.
In spite of its authority and attain
ments, in spite of loyal alumni, devoted
students, generous benefactors, recogni-
tion of Ben Franklin's foremost contri-
button to education is too commonly de-
pendent on SITS invasion of the news.
Sometimes a winning football eleven,
welcome and praseworthy but certainly
not completely representative of the ira
dltlonal aims of culture, arouseS the due
sense of intimacy. Academic "sensa-
tions,' inherently significant as they may
be, are, in general, mild in comparison.
But the present change strikes note
of publicity very vital to Philadelphia
and to its illustrious institution of learn
ing. The resignation of Edgar f. Smith
inspires regrets and at the same time
opens the gate of opportunity. The Uni
versity is current popular topic-some-
thing it should have never ceased to be.
1t is typical that loss should be re-
sponsible for the awakening. An ideal
community would rally to its college
when one of it's distinguished servants,
such as Doctor McMaster, completed his
monumental history of the United
States or when another, such as Hugo
Rennert, penned his standard and ex-
haustive life of Lope de Vega or when
another such as Doctor Farabee, shed
authoritative new light on tropical eth
nology.
But civilization lags behind such
fances and it is futile to quarrel with it
on that score. The University deprived
of its chieftain-in this case one we'll
liked, with a, record of eleven years
earnest fidelity to its interests-faces a
problem of the utmost moment to the
city. The chance to consider it deeply
and comprehensively is packed with
stimulating possibilities.
Granted the city has at times forgot
that its size does not bar it from the role
of college town on great scale, such
as Boston is; granted that Philadelphia
sometimes needs jolt to develop it's
latent powers, the shock is here, the i'm
pact is existent.
To speak plainly, the time has come
both for holders of Pennsylvania d-
plomas and citizens who never signed a
matrculation card to give the Unver-
sity square and inspiring deal. New
pathways are to be trod under new
leader. The selection of the best equipped
man for the high post is, however, not
all. What the University primarily
needs is support, financial moral, psyche
logic service of the sort which prompts
pride as the power generates.
An endowment fund will be a magnifi-
cent bulwark. 1t is civic shame that it
has not been already found. The money
is here. 1t is absurd to forecast that so
intensely Philadelphia an institution as
the University will lack such ind6rse-
ment if the campaign is conducted on the
proper lines.
III StilSI al, Illt puDIIC ID weary OF
drives" But this one could be of stir
ring import. Affection is one conceivable
spur. Pride is another.
Here is an educational factor, vener-
able and seasoned with ennobling tradi-
tions, an instrument of culture respected
in every land where progress has mean
ing. In medicine, in dentistry, in engi-
neering, in architecture, in economics-to
mention only few of its fields-its emf
nence is exceedingly impressive.
Nomads on the banks of the Tigris or
the Nile have heard of the University of
Pennsylvania. They have guided its rep
resentatives at Nippur and Babylon and
occasionally, it seems, are more aware
of old Penn than members of the COM
munity whose ancestors evolved the inst-
tuition. Many South Americans, Chinese,
Japanese, Porto Ricans and Cubans who
were students within its walls quicken
with retrospective interest at the name.
The eagerness of these far-hung Penn
sylvanians to help their alma mater is
hardly to be questioned. But it is not
upon them that the prime responsibility
falls. To an exceptional extent in a
large city, the University draws upon
the "home town. for its students. The
body of native alumni is formidably nu-
merous. Enlistment of their services on
behalf of financial guarantees which will
relieve the college from the necessity of
underpaying its professors or of hin
ORANGES to strengthening its faculty
ought not to require either irritating or
abnormally herculean efforts. Similar
conditions apply regarding the abundant
well wishers of the University who have
never studied within its walls. With
fitting machinery "drive" to make the
institution truly representative of the