212
AT ATTN WREKLY
administration-from the very start as
well as practically forbid, during the
temporary incumbency of the man
chosen to fill the interim, anything like
the establishment of a far-sighted policy.
While a temporary incumbent might fill
the place, he could not count upon
enough tenure of office to carry to the
fulfillment his own plans, and ‘he could
not be sure of planning properly for his
successor, or rely absolutely upon that
successor to continue the régime he
might establish.
The secondary arguments against a
temporary plan are something as fol-
lows: It might involve a deal of petty
REV. THEODORE T. MUNGER, D.D.
Member of Yale Corporation.
electioneering for candidates and the
hardening of individual views and preju-
dices that would result in factions in
the Yale body and thus militate
strongly against the successful harmony
between the President and the constitu-
ency of the University. It would per-
haps reflect upon the reputation of the
University, as a possible supposition
might be that the position had been
offered to one or more good men whi
had -declined it. Finally, it might be
said that if the man for the place could
be found in a year or two, or three, he
must be in existence to-day, for one
or two years of further work would not
make him grow up to it; hence if suffi-
ciently vigorous search were made, he
could be found now as well as a year
or two later.
THE PRESIDENT SHALL GROW TO HIS
PLACE.
And there is one more general view
that may be deduced from these inter-
views with our strongest men in all
positions of life, and that is that they
look upon the possibilities of the
erowth of the individual who may be
selected, as something equally as. cer-
tain as the growth of the University
under the administration of the right
man. It is not necessary to go farther
than the thistory of a sister University
for the proof of that. With the ex-
pressed ‘desire for the appointment of a
comparatively young man comes again
the reference to that remarkable pro-
gress and advancement of University
and man.
Because inquiry elicits so many de-
sirable or even advisable qualities to be
looked for in the next president of Yale
as to lead to the belief that no individual
possessing them can be found, because
setting wp an ideal seems to eliminate
individuals, has seemed to furnish no
reason for ending the inquiry.
Alumni expect that the Corporation
will prove themselves braver than that?
And it is not true that if the alumni
expect them to be braver, they are also
aid. It is held to be the duty of every
Yale man to take an interest, to search,
suggest, and offer all that may be even
of indirect value.
It was in this belief that the effort
of collecting opinion, and especially the
free and frank opinions that can not be
expressed by letter, was undertaken,
and the friendly reception granted to
the WEEKLY by Yale men throughout
the country was such as to be absolutely
convincing in the assurance that the
Corporation can look for the most en-
thusiasti¢ support and can command the
most confidential views and assistance
of every Yale man in the country.
i
> than this.
With such a body of men entirely at
their service, and with the possibilities
thereby offered for investigation, it
seems difficult to believe that the out-
come can be anything but satisfactory,
and that with the new President will go
all the force of the good will of grad-
uates from Maine to California.
.
Pr ite ee
As to the Plea for a Western
Corporation Member.
To the Editor of YALE ALUMNI WEEKLY:
Sir:—As the time is drawing near for
the election of alumni members of the
Corporation, I wish to enter a protest
again the fallacy of the necessity of
Western representation in the Corpora-
tion. “The West is entitled to repre-
sentation”; so is the East, the North,
the South. We need to-day in the Cor-
poration the liberal ideas, the broad-
mindedness, the spirit of progress,
which are popularly supposed _ to
characterize the West.
But these are not confined to the
West alone. If our Western alumni are
to be represented in the Corporation, |
they should be represented mentally,
not physically. A man of western
ideas, residing in New York, is worth
ten times as much as a man from
Chicago or Denver. We need above
all things regular attendance. The life
members (I hate the ordinary division
of “clerical? and stay")-all dive near at
hand and can be counted on for regular
attendance. So ought the elected mem-
bers. «-‘“Ned”’. Mason: was one of <a
thousand, and expended much time and
trouble to attend the regular meetings;
but from mere geographical considera-
tions, he was never elected to the Pru-
dential Committee, which meets twice
as often as the Corporation, and pre-
pares all the work. For the same rea-
son, only with greater force, no repre-
sentative from the West would ever be
able to serve on any of the other Com-
mittees which require perfect familiarity
with all the surroundings, and constant
exchange of ideas between the members.
And ‘‘Ned” Mason is dead, “and dy-
ing left no heir.” Judge Taft’s name
has been quite generally mentioned as
his probable successor. I know him
well. I have the highest possible
esteem for him. . But he would
not do for the Corporation. He could
not be relied upon for the regular meet-
ings, mttch less to take the place on
the Prudential Committee, and other
smaller committees, of Mr. Kingsbury,
who, I hear, during his long term of
service, hardly ever failed to attend.
He could not leave the bench even to
attend as often as “Ned” Mason. And
the day of illustrious figureheads is
gone, never I trust to return. That
fallacy passed away with Gov. Wash-
burn and Chief Justice Waite. :
What we want now are men of good
business capacity, liberal ideas, in full
sympathy with the younger alumni, and
living near enough to New Haven not
only to easily attend every meeting
of the Corporation, both regular and
special, but also to run up on a mo-
ment’s notice for special committee
work, inspection of sites, conferences
with architects, etc, etc., etc.
They need not be men of prominent
ability or among the best scholars in
their class. All of the life members,
with three exceptions, are Yale gradu-
ates and among the picked men of their
respective classes. But the elected
members should be something more
They should be thorough
representatives of their constituents,
practical business men, and able from
their position, geographical, profes-
sional and financial, to give up a day
for the good of Yale, whenever required.
Surely such men can be found within
two hours run from New Haven. The
present members are not the only ones.
There are others. |
Very sincerely yours,
ALUMNUS.
March 4, 1899.
Symphony Concert Innovation.
A chorus numbering about seventy-
five is rehearsing under the direction of
Professor Parker to sing at the next
Symphony concert, to be held March
23. The music will be the Commence-
ment Ode by George Chadwick, which
was sung in 1897, and H. Zeollner’s ar-
rangement of the Siegfried music.
THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION, |
The Entire Change of Relation of
President and Faculty,
i:
The next President of Yale will face no-
easy task. He will follow a genial, be-
nignant and high-minded man, who has
succeeded in maintaining a purely per-
sonal administration of the University
by force of inherited and inherent-.claims
to deference. This purely personal ad-
ministration has, speaking in a large
sense, made no mistakes, although it
has made few experiments and few dis-
coveries. It has directed, or rather con-
trolled, the natural growth on an insti-
tution firmly based in a young and
growing country. It has wisely insisted
always on growth rather than change.
And gratifying growth has come.
This is the vantage ground of the retir-
ing President. In the times of change
and stress which are now sure to. come,
students and alumni of the University
will look back to his administration as
one of Saturnian peace and prosperity.
The retiring President has spent his
long life in the service of the Univer-
sity, and closes a line of Presidents
whom circumstances clearly pointed out
.as natural successors of their predeces-
sors. He has been able to give his ser-
vices to the University without salary,
—an appreciable increment to his dignity
and influence. He has not only given
his services as President, but he has
been able from time to time to supply
deficiencies in University funds from
his own means, and so to carry out
many measures on which his heart was
set. The material future of himself and
of his family has always been assured,
and he has been able to devote himself
to his great work without those distrac-
tions of bread-winning and bread-insur-
ing which beset the ordinary man. He
has done so with rare devotion and rare
generosity. .He has made himself per-
sonally beloved, and retires in the flush
of success, with powers undimmed.
NO NATURAL SUCCESSOR.
There is no such natural successor to
President Dwight as President Dwight
was to President Porter, and President
Porter to President Woolsey. Whether
we look among the older academic
names, or those of men whose fathers
and grandfathers were not on this or
any other Academic staff, we find pos-
sible candidates for the succession
REV. JOSEPH ANDERSON, D.D.
Member of Yale Corporation.
only in much younger men_ than
have hitherto been chosen. And when
we look among the alumni who are not
members of the Faculty, the men most
often mentioned as candidates are young
men. Few if any of these young
candidates, whether on or off the
Faculty, have those elements of dig-
nity and independence which have
made possible for the past eleven
years a purely personal administration.
Forces have slowly been gathering in
the various faculties of the University,
and particularly in those of the Aca-
demical Department and _ Sheffield
School, which will rush to expression
under the new administration. It can-
not be like the one now closing, a per-
sonal administration. It will be a
faculty administration. 3
And who can judge the great issues
facing the new administration better
than the Faculties? Expert scholars
and teachers, who have taught and ex-
pect to teach all their lives, are surely
best competent to decide creat educa-
tional questions under good ieadership.
As educational experts they have had
no leadership. They have not been
invited or encouraged to discuss the
ees educational questions of the
ay.
But the next President, if he be any
one of the candidates as yet prominently
named, must not count, cannot count
on the deference that has always been
paid to the ‘personal wishes of Presi-
dents Woolsey, Porter, and Dwight.
The teaching force of the University
has been quadrupled since the days of
HON. HENRY E. HOWLAND, M.A.
Member of Yale Corporation.
Woolsey. The consensus of its expert
opinion on educational matters must
now find expression, and it must be
judiciously aided and guided to such
expression by the next President.
At the recent alumni banquet in
Springfield, Mr. George S. Merriam
opened a discussion of one of the great
issues which the new administration
must confront, grapple with and settle.
It cannot longer be crowded aside and
covered up. Mr. Merriam made no
Biter aitace. «= tis” “words were as
courteous and kind as they were
weighty. He himself is one of the best
representatives of the old classical train-
ing of Yale. But he made an earnest
and eloquent plea for the abolition of
the entrance requirement in Greek, and
of the requirement of Greek and Latin
in the College courses. He pleaded for
the substitution by those who so desire
of modern languages and literatures for
the ancient. To this demand of our
modern life the educational systems of
Getmany and France have made great
concessions. So have Harvard, Cor-
nell, Johns Hopkins, and other great
institutions of America. Yale has thus
far made trifling concessions to this
demand. Shall she make more conces-
sions? .This is only one of the great
questions which the new administration
must decide.
THE GREAT PROBLEM.
A still more momentous question,
and one which affects the very essence
of the Yale system, is whether the
principle of election shall be carried
down and generously diffused through
the two lower years. It is not yet fully
victorious in the two higher years.
Shall it be impartially established there?
Shall Yale’s diploma be given, not for
a certain number of years spent in more
or less earnest and profitable academic
life, but for a certain definite number
and order of courses in “Philosophy
and the Arts” satisfactorily pursued and
completed? Before such fundamental
questions as this are decided, it is time
lost to ask whether compulsory relig-
ious exercises Should be maintained or
not. These are a survival from the old
College era. The great question of the
future is, shall all lingering collegiate
features be stripped away from under-
graduate lifer : ;
Much can -be ‘said in favor of retain-
ing them. In the “Analysis of Yale”
by. Professor Perrin, published in the
ALUMNI WEEKLy for March 17, 1808,
much is said in favor of them. ~The
peculiar combination of University and
College features now existing at -Yale