The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-02-17
FISK UNIVERSITY
SOUTHS GREATEST
NEGRO INSTITUTION
Recognized by State, City AM
Federal Authorities as Col
Iege That Ranks High il
Class of Work.

In the city of Nashville there are
number. of institutions Of learning
which that city and the South are es
pecially proud. Vanderbilt univeTsitl
Peabody college, Ward Belmont an
other schools belong to this class. Bu
white students and ii is very natur5
that southern white people should d
proud of them. But II is not generall
known that there Is situated in Nashs
VILE a school for the higher educatio
Of negroes-Fisk university-which
the pride of that city and the South ii
the same that the white school
referred to are objects of pride to thl
white people of this section.
During the progress of a great mas|
meeting held in Nashville but a shor
while ago, this school was menti0ne
with pride as n of the fine in5titu
lions of learning that had helped I
earn for Nashville the title of "Athens
of the South" and the school was mend
toned by white publicists on that nigh
not only as belonging in the class wit
the great white institutions of the cit
in the type of work being done, but als1
as one of the agencies that, co-operatl
ing with the white schools, had donH
so much to prevent race clashes in thu
community.
Very. recently, the Commercial clu
OF Nashville raised $11, 900 for Fisk unil
NASAN > anu lalClt htilI It's DI6SluGII
and a delegation to New York city I'll
give national emphasis to the body'a
Endorsement of the school. At the saml
time, the governor of the state of Tend
Eessee journeyed also to the great East
ern metropolis to express the pride d
the commonwealth in the school, an
to plead for the better endowment d
Fisk so that it may better serve TIL
need OF the South for at least one WE'LL
equipped university for the colored peol
pie who live in this section.
Founded as a university 54 year
ago, by the American Missionary assol
citation, and the Western Freedman'l
society, this school, through all the eba
and flow of discussions relative to tn
proper types of education for the coll
ored people, has unhesitatingly follow
ed the course mapped out by the found
ers from the first, namely, "of estabI
fishing for the colored people of TIL
South a university that should AIDE
quately provide for them the advanl
tages of Christian education to what
ever extent the capacity and energy 81
the race should in the future demand. 4
High Standards.
Friendly to all types Of educaticsI
FISK university has insisted, not by 0rl
gument, but by the silent prosecution oil
its task, that the colored people mus
have some schools in which their owl
leaders-their teachers, ministers, phyI
slclans, business men, etc, may be prel
pared for highest usefulness for theiI
race n the community at large,
AS a result of this belief, the univerl
slty has steadily raised its Standard
OF scholarship until it stands todayak1
the second largest arts college for ffeI
groes in the world, and as one OF onl
three schools for negro students which
the United States Bureau of Education
regards as being entitled to the nam]
of college" AT the same time, it n
worthy of note that it is the larges|
negro college in the South and is within
y hours l d Of 4S per cent of the toll
The emphasis laid upon character al
FISK is not less marked than thai
placed upon scholarship. The superyi1
sion Of the students lives, the insist
ence that all work be done well, tn
reclassification every six weeks of those
VINO 1aL n do not deserve to 90 on
the war constantly made on ''shams' the
religious. atmosphere of the school, and
the holding aloft of finest ideals of sac
rl1lce and service all conspire to build
strong character in the lives of those
Who study at Fisk. At the same time
Ine university is taking advanced
ground J n providing the very best pos
sible type Of physical education for al
OF the students, so that strong bodies
may. be made the homes of minds and
spirits stronger still; and that the lesa
sons of hygiene and health which TN
Students have learned may be trans
lated into better living conditions in AL
the communities in which they will
live. -
Because of the low cost of education
at Fisk university, by reason of The
great stress laid upon simplicity in Nv
Ing, the benefits of higher education
are made available to large number
OF poor students; This is the essence
are open, ordinarily, only to certain
favored few to the poorest and NOR,
humble. No negro student in the SonIl
need be deprived of a college education
because of high costs, because Fisk
offers h highest type of training a;
q minimum cost,