University of Illinois - Illio Yearbook (Urbana Champaign, IL)

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TEN YEARS OF PROGRESS of the state and with them most cordial relations have been established. Unity of action is secured with academies, high schools, Normal schools, and in fact with all the educational forces of the state. It is unfortunate not to be able to tell in detail how the courses in Business Administration comprise eight well defined courses, General Business, Commerce, Consular Service, Banking, Insurance, Accountancy, Railway Administration, and Journalism. It is almost a sin not to tell of the recent work of such men as Dr. William Noyes who has been head of the Chemistry Department since 1907, or the work of our historians; or of Dr. Stephen A. Forbes, the Entomologist, but it would be a shame indeed to crowd up the jokes that are waiting for space in this book. So the professors and the departments will have to remember that this is a student publication and crowd up accordingly. The table appended gives the mere statistics of growth and they are large enough to be interesting reading. A word of the Graduate School. Quoting Vice-President David Kinley, to whose energy and devotion so much of the progress of the last ten years is due, as to its purpose in contrast with the undergraduate work: The undergraduate department retails knowledge already established, while the graduate school aims to discover new knowledge. As the unfolding of truth means the unfolding of mankind, it certainly seems a narrow minded and self-limiting policy that would hamper or curtail scientific research. In the development of the University this massive machine for the intellectual and spiritual uplift of mankind, President James has followed the policy of taking the people completely into his confidence. He has not worked in the shade and then flashed out his result to astonish them. He has told his aim, revealed his plan, and then asked for help. He certainly received, it when he put through the one- mill tax by which the finances of the institution were placed upon a firm basis. At the time when the Medical College was attacked he spent little time in defense of the College. He admitted the faults and pointed out new ones not neglecting to mention, however, remedies that might be applied in case the people of the state The School of Commerce Building 18

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TEN YEARS OF PROGRESS intelligently and truly. Not politics, not the church nor the family have been allowed to exert the slightest influence in the choice of men for the faculty, fitness alone has been the test. They have had to prove themselves before being invited. Professor Charles K. Babcock, who came this year as Dean of the combined college of Liberal Arts and Science, was formerly Specialist in Higher Education, Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C. Dr. William Trelease, Professor of Botany and head of the department of Botany who fills the place made vacant by the retire- ment from active service of Dr. T. J. Burrill, formerly was director of the Missouri Botanical Garden at St. Louis; Dr. Frank L. Stevens, Professor of Plant Pathology came from the University of Porto Rico where he had served as Dean of the College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts; Loring Harvey Provine, Professor of Arch- itectural Engineering and Acting head of the Department of Architecture, formerly was Superintendent of Construction, Storm and Webster Engineering Company; and Dr. Charles H. Kohnson, Professor of Secondary Education, formerly was Dean of the School of Education in the University of Kansas. This by no means exhausts the list of prominent educators who have come to the LTniversity recently, nor is it given for that purpose. It indicates merely the trend in the selection of men for the faculty that characterizes the policy of the University. Men of wide experience, of thorough training and established reputations, are chosen for the important positions. As is but natural, exact and enthusiastic teaching has resulted. The rumor of it has gone abroad and students come not only from all the states of the union but from Europe and the Orient. Through the School of Education under the directorship of Dr. William Bagley, and through the efforts of the High School Visitor, Professor Horace Hollister, the secondary education of the state is finding the University of a powerful force in its advancement. By sending teachers into the state and into other states who are trained to express themselves in their profession, the University finds one of the surest tests of its efficiency. The University has recognized the important work of the Independent Colleges Ceramics Laboratory 17

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TEN YEARS OF PROGRESS desired sound instruction for the sake of their bodies. The result was a reorgani- zation of the Medical College. Convincing people of a sore place and then helping them heal it is a better policy in the end than denying the sore place; just as a life saving operation is better for a patient, than a good, thorough post-mortem ex- amination. The University of Illinois endeavors to keep in vital contact with the best thought and movements in our own country and with those of foreign countries. One of the helpful means of accomplishing this has been the visits of many of the leading university professors and scientists of other countries. Among these are Professor Hans Cadow of Cambridge University, England, who lectured on Zoo- logical subjects; Professor Edward Meyer of the University of Berlin, who gave a series of lectures on Political Institutions and Ideas of Ancient Greece; Professor Josef Redlich of the University of Vienna and a member of the Imperial Parliament of Austria; Professor Bedier of the University of Paris and many others who are equally well known. Even a brief review is not complete without a few statements in regard to stu- dent activities during the decade. A healthy development of student life has been going on at the University of Illinois. As the number of students has increased and interests have become more diverse, there has been a consequent addition of student activities and organiza- tions. The number of fraternities and sororities have greatly increased. They are better organized and on the whole more nearly fulfil their purpose. Many of them now own their own houses, the properties being worth many hundred thousand dollars. New literary societies, new honorary and professional societies, and new clubs have been organized. The Cosmopolitan Club is an unique student enter- prise. The Students' Union, the most comprehensive organization on the Campus, has come into existence and is gradually taking up important functions and duties that concern the entire University body. Two important buildings, devoted to the development of the social and religious interests of the students, have been erected near the Campus. The first of these to be erected was the Y. M. C. A. building. With its dormitory, bowling alleys, auditorium, and parlors it has served for five years a great need of the community Tui. New Hortici ltur vl Buildings hi