Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-10-30

women, and to look forward with the
conndent expectation that this mum Der
will be greatly incroased ypar nftcr year
"A tho results OF the work for better Schools
throughout tho State become moro and
more evident.
ESTIMATE OF DELAwARE COLLEGE.
Coming now to conditions Of today IL
present To you the speakers estimate OF
the present situation. An outsider, fro
from tho influence Of local ties and inn
pressions fixed by habit which arc necos-
sarily reflected in the Judgments Of those
intimately connected with = place, can
perhaps view An institution in q more
objective fashion and possibly present a
picture Of il trucr in some ways than can
ono much more familiar with its inner his
tory and details. At any rate, assuming
this to be the case, shall present to you
very bluntly some OF my impressions OF
Delaware College and certain judgments
formed As to its future by mo in tho short
two months which have been available
for study Of the situation.
al find a situation containing unusual
and in a sense contradictory elements;
elements of hope and elements OF deep
concern.
ii find an institution containing n col-
lege of arts and science with courses OF
standard weight and value; college oil
engineering giving thorough and adequate
COURSES in four forms Of engineering; a col-
lege Of agriculture with courses parallclling
those given in the strongest agricultural
colleges of tho land, with an experiment
station supported by Federal funds and
manned by investigators trained 70 rc-
search, with q model farm and activities
through its extension department which
are touching in a helpful way every corner
of Delaware; a women's college giving a
standard degree in arts and science. in
home economics, in education. and IN sRrl-
culture, and for the present at least 4
rehabilitation department established
here by tho Federal Board for Vocational
Trimming to give us the privilege Of sharins
in the work Of offering educational nd-
vantagcs 70 those who suffered serious
disability during tho great wnr and are
paving in impaired health and disabled
bodies the price Of that great catastrophe;
faculty OF 53well- trained men and wom-
an a student body, homogeneous vigor
ous. responsive, amounting to a1S men
and women without counting the rs men
in the rehabilitation division; score OF
excellent buildings devoted to college
purposes, An athletic field of unususi
beauty and equipment, college ground.
and campus amounting to rs acres,
practise, experiment, and demonstration
farm of 2l2 acres; property worth 81
100000 and An annual income from All
sources. Federal, State, endowment, aud
fees of 1902 900. find Board Of Trus-
tees composed of lcadirg men OF the
hA
their time and labor in behalf Of the col
Iege; public-spirited friends and alumni
whose munihccnt gifts have made possible
the institution "a we have it today;
thirvirg community set In a country OF
rare beauty and natural advantages
which welcomes the college students and
faculty with gracious hospitality and
kindness; State awakenir & "a whole
under tho leadership OF its progressive
citisens 10 it's own educational needs and
Just now about to put into effect iegisia-
tion necessary TO give It more adequate
system Of public education; a State admit
tedlv conservative but proud and re-
sourceful and little likely to turn back
when once il has Get its hand to the plow.
All of this /. matter for corgrstulation
and warrants high hopes for the con-
tinued growth and usefulness OF the IN
stitution. In fact no less an authority
than the United States Commissioned OF
Education has made the statement that
no institution IN this country has larger
possibilities Of service and usefulness 70
its StaS than Delaware College. II
unique IN its position as the only college
In the State; mo other institution profits
by its ios loses by its gains IT Is unique
and fortunate in its combination OF arts,
~s-Ner
one institution, and in the possibility II
has OF touching every part Of the State
not only through the work done here but
Also through its extension departments IN
arts, agriculture, vocational training And
education.
But there IL another side to the pic
ture. The very succeSs OF the institution
has become q source Of weakness. WITH
the in creasing number Of students IN
recent years has come the demand Tor
greater diversity OF courses, more equip
ment. larger staff of instructors, until
We find ourselves cramped today IN way
which threatens the efi cienty OF our work.
We have outgIovn our quarters, our facul-
w, our RESOURCES Clas. rooms are over
crowded ard insufficient IN number; the
dorrniturics and fraternity houses can
not accommodate the stud-nt body and
the available boarding places IN the town
are more than filled except for the timely
mid III the School Auxiliary Of the Service
Citizens of Delaware 1t would have been
necessa ~ this yenr 10 turn away 40 girls
from the Womens College; engineering
shops and Laboratories are 10 small that
in some cases only half as many students
can be accommodated each day S Is
necessary for best results many members
Of the teaching staff are overloaded with
work-and none are ovrrpaid-h0uslng
Accommodations for tho faculty are so
inadequate AS n present a serious problem;
salaries are not high enough 70 enable US
TO hold our men when they are called else
where; the losses from this cause In the
past wear have beon alarmingly numero us;
continuance of this condition cannot
but be disastrous. The task before us,
therefore, i. q large one. Ii is, to be sure.
far from hopeless but it demands the in
terest and the active help Of every friend
Of the college and of education in the State.
THE PIoPLE CAN HELP.
TN carrying this into effect several
considerations and lines of action recon-
mend themselves TO our judgment:
THE people of Delaware must be more
completely and moro universally informed
about the work Of the institution and its
relation to the educational, agricultural,
and industrial life of the State. They
must be made to realize that this is their
State university, the cap stone of their
public educational edifoe, whose posi-
bilities for usefulness and service are