The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1920-06-24
SPEECH OF DR.. SlAGLE

Old residents of Brookings and
terested in meeting DR.. Robert l..
! Slagle, president of the University of
! South Dakota, who was here last week
| for the Homecoming. Dr.. Slagle was
/ professor of chemistry at State college
| from 1895 to 1897, and in 1906 he came
/ back to State college as its president
which position he held until February,
/ 1914 when he was transferred to the
university. During the ten years that
! he lived in Brookings he made many
! lifelong friends. In his talk at the in
! auguration last Monday he said in
part:
"Twenty-fVe years ago this summer
| | came to the South Dakota Agricul-
I tural College, as member of the in
structiOnal staff since which date
/ have had some responsibility, with
the cooperation of most congenial col
( leagues, in guiding its course, but
assure you that though my responsible
ity in this respect has come to an end,
my interest in the institution and my
affection for it have not decreased
1T was my privilege to be init
mateIy associated with many Of those
who laid the first stones Of the fouu-
dation and even now afte" he passin1
of almost forty years ! am not sure
that this foundation has been entirely
completed On this occasion it Is
rather interesting to look back at the
beginning and briefly acquaint our
selves with the views Of the pioneers
Of territorial days. The University Of
South Dakota was founded in 1862, i'm
modiately following the organization
I Of the Territory Of Dakota, domain
that then extended beyond the Rocky
Mountains, and covered an area Of
10000 square miles. The legislature
in session at Yankton located this in-
sttutiOn in VermilliOn.
"in the year 1887, Doctor McLOuth
in his inaugural address as President
Of the Dakota Agricultural College Te-
ferred to the institution, whose guess
we are today, as an industrial COLLEGE
"a college for laboring people, a col
lege of labOring people and in par
10 merit and to win success we must
keep strictly to our legitimate field
restrict ourselves to our own proper
work Our field is large enough-the
field of all the material and manual in-
dustries-we do not need to enter up
on the special work Of fitting for the
professions Of law, medicine, THEOLOGY
or teaching We will leave these
things and the pure sciences, litera-
ture and language, to the universitas
and colleges, except so far as they are
to the industries
Like all educational institutions i'm
the younger states, the South DakOta
State College. and the University have
had their days of Juvenile trouble
which may be compared to the
mumps, measles, whooping cough and
even scarlet fever But notwithstand-
ing the fact that some of these attack
have been most severe, the youthful
institutions seem to have been safely
nursed through the stormy period OF
infancy.
Ion this campus you now have
fine collection Of buildings, an exc
lent faculty and material equipmeUt
and, what is still better, the conviction
of the people that they must look TO
you for guidance and leadership in the
development of agriculture, the
states greatest industry. The alumni
too, have made their influence felt aud
are rejecting honor upon the collegc,
not only in South Dakota but wher'
ever they have established themselves.
"To the South Dakota State COLLEGE
the University of South Dakota ex,
tends hearty congratulations and to
her new president good wishes and
God-speed on the journey which he
has so recently begun.
Wv. s. S.
Pretty soon there will not be