Wayne County, Ohio - Chapter 22: History of the University of Wooster, 1910 (part 4 of 4)

However this may be, the historian must record the fact that here, too, Wooster has been conservative. Neither honors nor prizes are pushed strongly to the front, though both exist. They have existed in one form or another from the opening years. Commencement honors have sometimes reached the number of six, though now there remain but two. "Summa nun laudc;' "Magna cum laudc" and "Cum laudc" are still distributed. Prizes were offered for the early society contests. In 1875 the graduating class established the Junior Oratorical prize. In 1876 the two prize scholarships for Sophomore proficiency were established on a foundation provided by Doctor Taylor. The "trustee prizes" were continued for many years by annual contributions from members of the board and were distributed to those who came out of the preparatory department to enter the freshman class, with the highest grades. The best scholar in approved high schools may now receive a scholarship. There is the annual prize of the Oratorical Association ; and that of the Peace Association, with the new Fackler prize for debating and a prize system in the summer school. As yet no fellowships have been established to he administered upon a competitive basis.

7. As compared with other institutions of its own g'rade Wooster's customs concerning vacations and holidays may be styled progressive. The university has chosen the shorter ])eriod for the college year, and acknowledges every legal holiday by suspending all class exercises. After repeated endeavors to "improve" these holidays nothing is now done collectively e.xcept in connection with the ecclesiastical holiday - the "Da}^ of Prayer for Colleges." In addition to the former privileges recent custom seems to have established the elimination of two more days from the working plan, viz: "College Day'' and the "Friday after Thanksgiving.''

8. The question of dramatic representation, with or without the use of costumes and stage accessories, was for some years agitated. It reached its crisis in connection with class-day exercises in 1897. The board's decision seemed to favor a "more liberal policy," but the synod of that year congratulated the institution on having "avoided complicity with the theatre." A subsequent action of the board, waiving discussion, expressed "approval of the action of the faculty in the matter relegated to it by the decision of the synod," and hoped that "the faculty may be united in maintaining the university's high standing as to the subject-matter of this part of their report." The faculty subsequently (I think in 1899) took action of a different character and for the last decade dramatic representations have been freely employed by tbe classes and literary societies under supervision of a "Committee on Public Occasion." No objection has been made, so far as known to tbe writer, either by the trustees or the synod and the policy of the institution would seem to have been permanently changed in the liberal direction.

9. Physical culture has been growing in favor as an essential in a fullorbed education for many years - especially as tbe Englisb-speaking world has come to realize the beneficial effects of Father Jahn's Turnexercise in Germany. The gymnasium came to be a marked feature in college equipment. It was realized for Wooster in 1872 so far as the building was concerned. In 1873-4 the furniture was added and work begun. The board recognized this as an "occasion of marked interest in the progress of the university" and the students exjiected good results from the practice and instruction. The out-door sports seemed to be arranging themselves in a natural and easy manner. But there began to be felt tbe pressure for intercollegiate and competitive games with organized teams and tbe accompanying entbusiasm. The existing executive tried dissuasion, but in vain. Tbe requisite permission was given Iw tbe faculty and tbe experiment liegun. In the Commcncctucnt Reporter of June, 1888, large headlines proclaim the success of the intercollegiate system; "A'ooster Downs the Other Colleges" was conspicuously ])rinted. The trial term's success and the "determined stand taken l)y the students during tlie winter term" had been the means of "arousing a college-spirit to which Wooster has been long unaccustomed." The students "realized the necessity of such contests as a stimulus to athletics in general and as foci on which could l)c concentrated the attention and interest of the boys as students of tlic same college, pitting their strength and skill against those of other colleges. Our faculty

What has been the result? Can any one douht that the experiment has been crowned with success?" It is declared that Wooster had probably the champion college-team of the state and that "no noticeable detriment" had come to intellectual work, hut rather the contrary. "Above all there has been infused through the college the belief that there is something complete and permanent in tlie ties that l)ind the students to their Alma Mater, that as enthusiastic upholders of the university we are to meet and vancjuish, if possible, all competitors on the oratorical platform and on the athletic held, that when we have long severed our relations to college life we will hnd our memories clinging around our hard-fought struggles as salient points in the routine of our student-life." Assurance is felt that the faculty will "enlarge the privileges of the athletic association. And on the students' side it can he pledged that the privileges granted will be used cautiously and honorably."

Thus commenced what in college parlance is called "Athletics," in the University of Wooster. But difficulties arose and faculty conditions were not always respected. In 1890 the hoard of trustees appointed a committee "to study the whole subject of intercollegiate athletics and report next year." In June, 1891. that committee reported and asked to he discharged "in view of the fact that intercollegiate atliletic contests, so far as this university is concerned, liave been abolished 1)y the faculty." Further action at the same meeting is recorded as follows : "Recognizing the value of physical culture and encouraging all proper methods of promoting it in connection with mental training, we }et appro\e of the action of the faculty in regard to intercollegiate athletic contests, because of the loss of time and of interest in study and the danger of demoralization involved in them."

Discontent with this decision was expressed variously, hut there seemed reason to believe that AAoster's conservative constituency thought tlie struggle worth while, and acquiescence seemed to he gaining for some years. The gymnasium was improved and an athletic field provided just beside it (for inter-class games of all kinds ) at considerable expense and the sacrifice of about one hundred fine specimens of that "gro\'e of native oaks" which the catalogues, for so long a period, never forgot to mention.

In 1895 synod met at AToster and urgent petitions were jiresented, hut that body sustained the faculty and trustees. In June, 1897, the board adopted the rejiort of a committee which, after mentioning certain gratifying circumstances, contained this sentence : "The commotion over intercollegiate games has subsided and the question may he regarded as satisfactorily and safely settled." the board in June, 1900, recorded the following minute: "The action of the faculty in annulling the prohibition of intercollegiate games and the measures taken by them to so regulate the sports as to keep both the plays and the players within due hounds, and in conformity with the aims and purposes of a Christian university, is commended and approved.'' Financial aid was granted in 1901 and 1902 and an addition made to the incidental fee in order to meet the increasing ex'i)enses of the intercollegiate .system. The board, in 1902, considers the "present method of guarding and guiding the athletic interests of the university'' as "wisely devised and successfully administered. The growth of interest in this sulpect seems to be, on the whole, in a healthful direction.'' Further and larger grants in aid have since been made and a report is regularly presented to the synod as to the year's history on the arena ; and attention is called to the endea\'or to secure a fair class-standing for those wlio compose the teams.

-\ comparati\'ely recent order restores gymnastic enrollment, examinations, and practice to a proportion of attention more just to their fundamental importance. Regular class-work is required from November first to Mav 15th. Great care has lieen taken in connection with the competitive games, to encourage clean play and courtesy toward opponents. And no Thanksgiving Day contests have been permitted. Per contra, it cannot be doulited that with a considerable number of students and in all colleges of the land, the relative im])ortance attached to athletics is disproportionate ; that the .system is artificial enough to create a new group of expenses - the more undesirable because tbe legitimate expenditures of the college and of the student continue to increase. Nor can it be denied that ameliorations of certain objectionable ( not to sav Iirutal ) conditions of the game of foremost interest have not lieen made by the faculties and trustees of our colleges (too many of whom apologized for and accepted these conditions) except in response to convictions and demands of a public not under the influence of the glamour which college-relations liave thrown about these fierce competitions.

TO. The question of fraternities ( including sororities) has produced in many institutions of higher learning (and recently in secondary schools) considerable agitation. Some institutions foster them and claim to find tliem beneficial. Others, as the United Presbyterian, Westminster, Oberlin and Princeton, have excluded them and evince no disposition to introduce them. 'They do not exist in the l\oman Catholic colleges, as far as I know. 'I'hcy do not mucli resemble tbe different "cor])s" of a German iinixersity. In Whioster they were formed, five of them, in the first administration ( i8yi-j^). Others have been founded later. No detailed bistorv can be attempted here.

But opposition seemed to develop at once. The record of June, 1873, shows that "a petition of fourteen alumni to suppress secret societies was presented by Doctor Taylor and was referred to a committee." That committee's report was unanimously adopted, as follows ; "This board agrees with the general sentiments of the petitioners in regard to the workings of college fraternities, but does not at present see tbe way clear to enact any prohibitory statute on the subject. We refer the whole matter to the deliberate consideration of tbe faculty and recommend that - as a faculty - they open a friendly correspondence with the faculties of other universities and colleges, with a view to regulating and, if possible, suppressing them.'' In June, 1876, Doctor Taylor reported a petition from members of the preparatory department for abolition of secret societies in tbe university. After discussion a committee reported a minute "in accordance with the spirit of the discussion." It reads thus : "While the board does not deem it necessary to enact a prohibitory ordinance, they are constrained to give it as their deliberate judgment, drawn both from experience and observation, that secret societies in colleges are of no permanent advantage but a positive injury. They distract attention from legitimate literary duties, cultivate a spirit of insubordination, produce alienations among students and are a waste of time, money and energy. We therefore earnestly advise the students of the university to refrain from any connection with these fraternities, and the president is hereby requested to make known this judgment of the board at the opening of each collegiate year." The subject came again under consideration in June, 1889. Recognizing the fact that "great prudence and sagacity are recjuired in dealing with questions arising out of the relations of Greek fraternities to the university," the board resolves "that a committee of three be appointed to study the whole subject, to report at the next meeting and that the faculty be requested to consider ^\ hether any arrangement can be made by which the meetings of fraternities can be held in rooms of the university building and the other places of meeting abandoned." This committee reported progress a year later and was continued. There was also continuance in 1891 and in 1892. In 1893. the long expected report was presented upon the basis of a very large correspondence. It was discussed carefully but not placed upon the records. Its recommendation that "no action be taken at this time" was adopted. The impression left bv the discussion was that the mind of the board was still uncbanged as to the desirability of fraternities, but unwilling to encounter the difficulties in the way of their removal. The supervision of them was committed to the faculty and in 1894 a resolution was passed "that the rules adopted by the faculty in relation to the use of the halls of the university, including the fra- ternity halls, are approved and the same should be kindly but firmly enforced." Further faculty action requiring initiations to be confined to the fraternity halls and nothing done in such ceremonies which would expose the candidate to bodily injury or demand anything inconsistent with his self-respect, was subsequently taken.

Owing to various circumstances the whole question was again very carefully studied by the faculty in the spring of 1908. By a small .majority that body voted to allow matters to stand as they were, but refused to approve further multiplication of the fraternal organizations or the final establishment of chapter-houses. Appeal was made by a committee representing a large number of alumni, to the board of trustees. The result was thus recorded : "That the board of trustees looks upon the Greek-letter fraternities in Wooster as organizations whose general purposes and character are in harmony with the aims and spirit of the university and favors their continuance and extension under proper supervision by this board." A committee was also appointed which reported in February, 1909. A delegation representing an inter-fraternal committee was also heard. Permanent chapter-houses were permitted. Rules were established covering eligibility, initiation and its fees, class standing of 80 to be maintained by students in chapter-houses, and notification to the dean of all initiated members. The chapter-houses are always to be open to visitation by the university authorities. These rules were supplemented in June, 1909, placing the location of the chapter-houses in the hands of the board of trustees and restricting invitations to eligibles shown to be such by a certificate from the dean. This apparently final settlement was, however, brought into question by the offer of an ever-generous patron of the university conditioning a liberal subscription to much-desired buildings, upon the ultimate, final exclusion of the secret societies. Action upon this proposal at the June i 1910) meeting of the board was postponed at the suggestion of its author, who was absent from the country at the time. As a matter of justice two petitioning associations which had taken "important and expensive steps" under the action of 1908, were allowed. Within the last few years four organizations have been authorized, of which two are resuscitations of formerly existing fraternities. Whether the oscillating pendulum has finally reached its point of rest, it remains for the future to disclose.

II. In so young an institution in a Western state, and on a Christian foundation, which is essentially a democratic one, it was not to he expected that class distinctions and disturhances would find lodgment in A'ooster. Real hazing has never known tolerance here. The first jiresident seems to have given it the coup de grace when it made a first apiiearance. He denounced its unfairness and its cowardice and even counseled, it is reported, the exercise of the reserved right of self-defense to any needed extent. "Class spirit" has sometimes sought the rough way of expression and now and then some "rushes" have occurred. But here again the good sense of the student-hody and a determined stand taken by the faculty has freed Wooster from disgraceful scenes such as were witnessed this very month in some of our Ohio and Western colleges and universities. The principle announced here has been that of the entire liberty of any class to adopt and wear in peace any cap or cane, or other class insignia its fancy might dictate. The "cross-country" connection between Juniors and Freshmen, Seniors and Sophomores has been domesticated here, hut finds expression only in banquets. "Upper-class men" is a phrase sometimes used, hut means little in the real life of the university. The capped and gowned seniors are paid some special attention on one or two special occasions and in being waited for in retiring from daily chapel. Plainness and sincerity go well together and all artificial distinctions seem inappropriate in presence of the Wooster ideal, viz., that all estimates which are worth while are based on character and conduct.

12. When we come to discipline, it is manifest that WToster has found support against the foreign university standard of irresponsibility for the moral character and conduct of students - a standard far too closely approximated in some of America's larger universities and technical schools, in at least three things - (i) the original and distinctively Christian purpo.se in which the institution originated; (2) its vital connection with a denomination as distinguished for its ethical as for its doctrinal standards ; and ( 3 ) by its carefully maintained connection with the Christian homes from which the large majoritv of our students have come. Parental co-operation has always been sought hv the report system and by special correspondence. The effort is unceasinglv made to cultivate in every student an intense loyalty to the home he represents. The old in loco parentis idea may have been modified in some of its applications but it has never for a moment been abandoned. Naturally the discipline has been both firm and kindly, and the result has been that the current of the university's life has been almost uninterruptedly placid. The close of the first year (1871) brought special expression by the board of trustees of "gratification at the good order, industry, and honorable conduct which has marked the first college year." It was found necessary to ha\e distinct rules, of course, hut these seem to have appeared for the first time m 1875. All immoralities, including profanity, were considered di.sciplinahle offenses. Saloons were not to be visited, nor were amusement rooms which had saloon attachments to he entered, nor was intoxicating liquor to he taken to or kept in the room of any student. Public dances were not to be frequented. Special permission is required for leaving the city to attend conventions of any kind or to accompany an athletic team, and in granting such leave the student's class standing and the wishes of his parents are taken into account. The socalled "honor" system for examinations has not been adopted - greater reliance having been placed upon Christian conscience. In a notable case in 1900 it was finally stated in the college paper: "The sentiment- of peace and

Naturally when forms of self-government appeared in general college life they could he appropriately experimented with in such a college community as that of Wooster. For several years house-committees in the dormitories for young women have been established and more recently ( 1908 ) a student senate has been installed. It is well understood that these bodies are ancillary and complimentary and that the faculty still holds itself responsible to the board, the synod and the constituency of the university for the proper oversight of the interior life of the college community.

13. It would seem almost superfluous to mention co-education in connection with Wooster's history. At his inauguration the first jiresident (Dr. Lord) thanked the founders that they had adopted the plan, and gave it not only a hearty approval but devoted a substantial portion of the inaugural to an argument in its behalf grounded upon the most fundamental considerations of human ecpiality in all conditions, oneness of all in Christ and essential similarity of mental endowments. He rejects with considerable feeling, the intimation that the presence of women would "prove a disturbing element, unfriendly to mental concentration, and also to the vigor and efficiency of academic government." He asserts with confidence that it would, on the contrary, "give powerful impulsion to mental activity and progress." He avows it as his conviction that "womanly presence in our colleges and universities will conserve order, increase decorum, and in every way cherish manliness, honor, truth and right." The eloquent address is even prophetic. "Presently young women will be trained, like young men, for our college and university courses, and will then resort, in increasing numbers, to these higher institutions. In that day let the young men look to their laurels. Many a time it will hap])en that quick, keen, flashing womanly minds will work out most brilliantly the hardest problems, and delicate, womanly hands seize upon and hear off in triumph the most coveted prizes."

The ])olicy, thus early adopted and approved, was reasserted in the catalogue of 1873-4 thus : "Co-education has proven decidedly successful, the mini- ber of young ladies in attendance having steadily increased, and their relative standing in the classes proving their entire ability, in all respects, to master the difhcnlties of the college course." Doctor Taylor (writing about 1878 in Douglas' History of Wayne County) says of the young women of Wooster: "They are prepared for teachers or for an adecjuate appreciation of literature, science and' life in general, and are enabled to reason for themselves and act with superior judgment, moving without embarrassment in the most cultivated society and fitted to adorn the highest walks in social life." Forty years of experience have only accented the accuracy of these assertions. It might be surprising to some people if the records of these later years were examined to note the, number of instances in which the "honors" have gone to those "quick, flashing womanly minds" which President Lord foresaw. Co-education prevails in thirty-nine out of the fifty-three colleges which are recognized as, in one degree or another, attached to the Presbyterian faith and order.

There has inevitably arisen the social question, however, and the temptation to excessive engagement in various social activities. But this yields to sensible rules founded upon the usages of good society and restricting social privileges only in the degree necessary to secure the quiet which conditions at the same time health and success in meeting the requirements of the curriculum.

14. It would he of interest and value if a study of the expenses accompanying an education at Wooster could he made. The original purpose included, beyond doubt, the "plain living" as well as the "high thinking," because Wooster was designed for efficiency in connection with the rank and file of its first, though not its only, constituency - the Presbyterians of Ohio. But that study is now impossible for this sketch. Suffice it to say that it has been steadily endeavored to hold the university, with all its increasing advantages, open to those of limited means and to those who must provide for themselves. From these classes have come the vast majority of Wooster's students and from among them have emerged those by whom its records are most adorned. The students have never paid the entire expense of their education, of course, and the most liberal arrangements have been made in aid of various classes of students. While expenses have increased it cannot be said that this increase has been in proportion to the additional advantages offered or beyond the unavoidable increment due to higher prices in all departments of life. This reasonable adjustment, it is hoped, will be maintained, since nothing in splendor of equipment could compensate the university for a loss of accessibility to those of whom we may speak as "the middle class,'' the "hone and sinew" of every democrac}^

15. There remains but one thing more in this miscellany and that may be styled the department of propaganda, which has been inaugurated in the administrative ofifices. The resources of ingenious statement, adapted to many classes and communities, have been taxed for the presentation of Wooster's claims to consideration, patronage and contributions. Space will permit the quotation of only a few titles, such as: "Why Go to College?'' "Why Go to the University of Wooster?'' "Education from the Christian Point of View'' ; "Why Should the Denominational College Live?'' - which query is answered in twenty-two brief sentence suggestions; "From Farm to College''; "An Ideal Place for Self-Discovery,'' are other titles in this most persuasive literature. It unfolds the lines of opportunity in modern education and the demands these create which an institution of the hrst class - Wooster's class - must prepare to meet. It is a literature full of information, stimulus and liroad outlook. It demonstrates plainly with what ease and certainty our constituency - aided by friends of education everywhere - can build upon the ample foundations laid by forty years of experience and the marvelous development of the fourth decade. May it penetrate homes and hearts without number.