Oregon State University - Beaver Yearbook (Corvallis, OR)

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President VV. J. Kerr, D. Sc. 25

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By J. (i. ScHKOKPKK, 'os. When a certain old “Grad propounded that query. “Where am I ? upon returning to the scenes of his early exploits, on the campus of his clear old Alma Mater, he propounded a question that from the point of its significance is classical indeed. “Where am Iv’ or “What wonders hath the Lord wrought?’’ i aborf all the poor old graduate can say when his restless spirit calls him back to where still linger the sweetest flowers of memory. No matter where he goes, that question occurs to him. for such changes have been wrought lx th inside and out. visible and invisible, that all he can do is to stand with mouth agape, and exclaim: “Well, it beats old Nico-detnus.” Naturally enough, the old “Grad feels a bit envious of the younger generation, ‘ who are enjoying the privileges that he was unahic to enjoy when he was younger : but still his heart goes forth in exultation and his soul rejoices that he can. at least, claim the hotter and distinction of having once been here and participated in the privileges, such as they were. I’neon sc ottslv he repeats, with variations probably, the words of the poet. “Breathes there a ‘grail’ with soul so dead. Who never to himself hath said. ‘This is my own. my Alma Mater.' After the fir t storm of his amazement has passed, and the agitations of his turbulent mind quieted, he avails himself of the first calm and asks another question. “What agency has been at work that has made all this possible?” If he should address this inquiry to some democratic freshman, some spra-soplristicated sophomore, some ‘dyed-in-the-wool. hard-working ( ?) junior, some faculty-bluffing, aristocratic senior, some “befo'-dc-wab alumnus, some serious-minded professor, or even some plain, every-day citizen of the state, all would with one accord acclaim that the transforming power has been the man at the helm. Hr. William Jasper Kerr. Yes. it has been Dr. Kerr at work, and this only his second year. too. We judge men by their fruits, and with this harvest so early before us. we venture another query. “What will he accomplish iti the years to come? Some one has described him as being a “go-getter. and he surely is. He is a goer, and the way he goes isn’t what you call fast; it is an improvement on “greased lightning. But the way he gets things has caused many a man to assume an upright, silting posture and take careful observations. Just the way lie got the $.’{70,000 appropriation from an Oregon Legislature for a state educational institution is suffic ent to place the laurel on his brow and credit him “the champion getter. But he has obtained other things aside from that which are worthy f our consideration: the bringing or a convention of national college presidents to Portland, and gaining the confidence of the people, the love of his students, and the respect of the alumni: and securing as friends of the institution the press of the state, which hitherto had manifested only a lukewarm attitude. Yes, he has accomplished so much in these two years of labor: he has laid the foundations for the “greater O. A. C.. advanced the standards, strengthened the faculty, and educated the people up to a full appreciation of the Oregon Agricultural College. His consummate capacity for perfect-irg arrangements to bring land-grant colleges into potential and militant 24

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life, his genius in far-sighted executive administration, in constructive education on the broadest and most complete lines: his realization of educational needs; his broad policy of pushing educational work into channels where it will reach every class, and the remotest neighborhoods; his mental grasp of the possibilities of Oregon and her conditions; his methods of bringing educative agencies into such action as will make for a rapid and triumphant development; his grasp of what the student needs for his personal development: his untiring efYorts in securing and placing before that student the things through which he can work out his own development into a finished and complete citizenship, are the qualities and attributes which have given him success in his work and caused the admiration of his many friends. The building up of a large state school recpiires a genius: for he must build for the future as well as meet the demands of the present. He must be a statesman, as well as a conscientious toiler; an executive, as well as a teacher: a man of sympathies, as well as intellectual culture; a man who is aggressive, whose promise is good, who is in sympathy with and who is absorbed in his work; a man who is sincere, capable, and honest in his dealings with men. It is with pride that the alumni can testify that Dr Kerr is such a man. that their confidence rests with him. that what he does, and is doing, in bringing the Oregon Agricultural College to the front of educational institutions in Oregon, will meet with their heartiest co-operation. We are glad that “our school is ridding itself of the garments of antiquity and is assuming the garb of a promising and modern institution; that it is leaving the past and forging forward with rapid, progressive strides. So here's to Dr. Kerr! May his work prosper. 26