Athens State College - Columns Yearbook (Athens, AL)

Page 28 text:

.■...- f- ?ate ia.j! .. -■-■■■-■ i J ' i W .U MA D O F ATHENS 92 |pa . ■ . ■ . ■V -Tr«a|-SBSe»-TC:» on the other end. The thought in this statement for many years was appli- cable to Athens College. The blessed thing is that in its long history it has had many 1 ke Mark Hopk ' ns. Perhaps the best proof of the value and work of Athens College is found in the town of Athens itself. Though just a small town with a population even now of only about 4,000, it has contributed to the public life of the commonwealth more leaders than any other town in the state of twice its size. For more than half a century it has been noted for the culture, refine- ment, prosperity and law abid ng character of its citizenship. Naturally Athens College has been its chief educational institution. A large percentage of the students have come from the homes of Athens or nearby communities. The graduates have gone back to these homes, and in many instances have be- come the mistresses of Athens homes. In these homes they have been the inspiration and foundation of those virtues that has made the little City one of the most dflightTul communities in all the land. It is true that the college has confined its educational work to women. But some one has ascer- tained that 90 ' r of the graduates become wives and mothers. If it be true, as it doubtless is, that every great man had a great mother it is easy to account for the character of the City of Athens. Now that we have taken our look backward, let us take a passing glance at the present. The one building in which the work began has been enlarged to twice its capacity. It has been remodeled, particularly on the inside. The first impression which one gets when he sees the classical outlines of the building with its imposing columns is enhanced when he enters the beauti- ful and commodious students parlor. All that refined taste can do to make it attractive has been done. Upon its walls hang many portraits of former Presidents and deceased Trustees. In this building is located the library, the President ' s office and numerous class rooms, while the dining room is just across an interior gallery. Then, there is the Music Hall with its unexcelled chapel, splendidly adapted to the work which its name implies. Here are numerous practice rooms, each tqu ' pped with its own instrument. Brown Hall, named for one of the most loved teachers, is used exclusively for dormi- tory purposes except that its comfortable basement is fitted up for indoor amusements. Within the last five or six years the swimming pool and gym- nasium have been completed, and now the magnificent new dormitory is under course of construction and will be ready for occupancy by the opening of the next session. This latest addition to the buildings when furnished will cost $80,000. The heating plant in a separate build ' ng furnishes heat wherever it is needed. Laboratory and library are well equipped. Athens College to- day is prepared to look after the comfort of its students and to do the school- astic work required by the highest grade college as well as any institution of learning in the land. It has not aspired to be great in size nor in the number ]t?g of its studfnts. It rather seeks to do well its work among the number of the smaller colleges, which as the late President Harding said, are the most

Page 27 text:

a ■.■.r ejya?OSA .... MAID OF ATHENS 1924- ' ' -r sfcj ' j IE social circle a delight. It was recognized and stressed that these accomplish- ments were tremendously enhanced in value when they were permeated through and through with the spirit of the Divine Master. Hence, mental training and religious thinking and living were to go hand in hand. In the election of the various Presidents who have been at the head of the College from its inception, and in the selection of the Faculties from time to time, scholarship and the ability to teach have been necessary qualifica- tions, but over and above these Christian character has been a sine qua non. Indeed, so far as the Presidents have been concerned, scholarship and training in school work have not been insisted upon the same earnestness as has been the ability to impress Christian ideals upon the students. From the sainted Dr. Rivers the first President, in whom both scholarship and Christian character were combined in a marked degree, until the present time, the College has been fortunate in the selection of men and women for the Presidency who have been conspicuous for consecration and Christian leadership. If this writer were to go into historical details and recount the financial sacrifices made by many of these servants of God, the reader would be amazed at their heroism and be convinced that not on mission fields alone, nor in the hardsh ps of a pioneer m nistry, do we find that complete surrender to Christ which so many of us admire but which so few of us are willing to emulate. More than two or three have assumed the Presidency of Athens College, not from hope of financial reward, but because they believed this to be a chosen field in which to serve the Master. One President reported at the end of the year that while the teachers had been paid in full he had not paid himself a single dollar. Another, who took some funds with him when he assumed the Presidency, did not quit until no t only his time and energy had been given but his last dollar had been exhausted. I know no greater record of self immolation and heroic service than is found in the historical documents of Athens College. It is no wonder that under the influence of such a spirit in the leaders of College, from its halls have come women by the hundreds who have been recognized as the best examples of refined, cultured and graceful womanhood. They have made many parsonage homes happy and have con- tributed to the success of their preacher husbands. They have carried the ideals of the institution into many school rooms and instilled them into the youth of Alabama and adjacent states. They have gone into the service of the Church by scores, and on mission fields, at home and abroad, have demon- strated the value of the training they received in Athens College. Despite the poverty of the school, its lack of physical equipment and sometimes of even physical comfort, for its students in the past, its record for genuine Christian education will compare most favorably with the work of colleges that have had all the money thought necessary to do their work. Some one,: ' once said that a college was Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and a student

Page 29 text:

i j MA D OF ATHENS 1924- [ potential force for the development of the republic. It wishes to be large enough to render the best service to Church and state, and small enough to prevent the individual girl from being lost in the mass and so deprived of the personal touch of the President and Faculty. What of the future? The divinely inspired prophet of old spake as the Lord spake to him. The modern prophet can only reason from the experi- ences of the past, and the facts that confront him in the present. This is a new day for woman. Opportunities for service are found in business, professional and industrial life that were undreamed of a genera- tion ago. With these opportunities have come obligations which the modern woman cannot shirk. No longer are her activities confined to the home, the Church, the school. Woman must take her place side by side with man in all the relationships of life. Public life calls her. Professional life calls her. Business life calls her. These changed conditions require a different kind of preparation. She must be not only accomplished, she must be practically and technically educated. In short, she must have the same mental devel- opment and the same kind of training that her brothers have received through all the past. She must be trained to be the executive officer for big busi- ness. She must be trained in statesmanship. She must be ready to fill any place in our complex civilization. The questions are now asked, Can woman thus be trained for a service as broad as that service which has heretofore been rendered by man alone and not lose those charms and graces so characteristic of our mothers? Can she do a man ' s work without becoming masculine? Can she stand on man ' s level, participating in his virtues and yet avoiding his vices? From some colleges for women the answer is in the negative. It is reported that in some institutions cigarette smoking and the drinking of illicit liquors is indulged in, not by the exceptional student, but almost as a matter of course; and that in some instances members of the faculty not only condone these practices, but actually encourage them. But from Athens comes the affirma- tive answer and there is no reason to doubt it. From its halls still come the same consecrated Christian women. The curriculum has been expanded to meet the needs of modern times, but the same care is and always will be taken to maintain the refined Christian atmosphere that has obtained from the beginning, so that its students will be graduated polished after the simili- tude of a palace. It is still the basic ideal of Athens College to send out women equipped mentally for any place in life, but at the same time to send them with that spiritual equipment that will make them, wherever they may go, the salt that savors and the light that lights the world. With in- creased equipment, with sufficient appliances, with a thoroughly trained fac- ulty and with the Christian ideal always and increasingly emphasized Athens , College will mean relatively as much in this new age as it has meant in the former years of its glorious history.