Bethel College - Graymaroon Yearbook (North Newton, KS)

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«r.t Iff COLLEGE GROUP

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THE GROWTH OF BETHEL COLLEGE On the coming twentieth of September it will be twenty yea. 3 .liaL ir-eihei College first opened its doors to students. The begin- ning was quite modest, for during that first year the total enrollment was 98 and the faculty list included only five members. The course of study, as far as the English was concerned, comprised what practically are now the seventh ar d eighth grades in the public schools and two years of academy work. That the students who attended were not far advanced is shown by the fact that only three of the whole number were enrolled for straight work in the Academy, while nearly all the rest had most of their work in the preparatory department. From the first year to the present time there has been a marked change for the better in the preparation of the students at the time of entrance. In the beginning many students had to spend two years before they were ready to take up Academy work proper, while in re- cent years all are prepared to enter at least the first year of the Academy. Some come prepared to enter the later years of the Academy course or even to take up CoKege work. The school has been comparatively slow— too slow, as some thir.k; yet we may say that it has been as rapid as the circumstances and demands in school and among the patrons warranted. A great deal of pioneer work had to be done, and pioneer work can never be safely hurried. Yet if we examine the records, we find that during all these years there has been a gradual and steady progress. The number of students slowly rose from 98 in the first year to over 200 at present; the faculty has been increased from five members to seventeen for the year 1913-14; and the course of study has been so strengthened from year to year that we now have, r,ot only an Academic course, but also a College course of four years. In the beginning there was only one special department besidss the regular preparatory and academic department, namely that of instrumental music. After a few years art was added and a little late.- elocution. The Commercial department and that of vocal training were the Eext to fd ' ow; the former, however, was discontinue ' d a few years ago as a special feature cf Bethel College and is now carried on in town as a separate school. Right from the start it was the intention to make Bethel College in fact what it was in name— a college. It wo-uld have been an easy thing to arrange paper courses and make a good showing, at least in the catalogue, but the principles of the school were against such meth- ods. To strengthen the teaching force to such an extent as to make a full College course possible from the first, would have been unwise; for neither did the state of the finances permit this, nor were the students and their parents, with few exceptions, ready for such advance- ment. The time came, however, when the school had to meet the growing demands of our young people, and, consequently, the number of teachers was increased and the course of study strengthened so that the school can now offer a full col ' -ege course. To be sure there is still many a change for improvements, but we may depend on it that these will be made in their proper time. There is one thing that our school must guard against now as much as at any other time, if not more, and that is the tendency towards showiness of outer appearances. After all, the growth of Bethel College must be measured not so much by the number of students that attend and the expansion of its curriculum, as by the quality and the character of the work done and by the influence for good that it spreads in the comm.unities it repre- sents. No one can deny that our school has, to a great extent, carried out the mission for which it was founded, and we are confident that with the increased faci ' ities it will continue to be a blessing to our people.

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS liPft to Right — D. J. Regier, Moundridge, Kansas; J. J. Krehbiel, Newton, Kansas; Rev. Gustav Harder, Whitewater, Kansas; Rev. J. W. reniier, Hillsboro, Kansas; Rev. H. Banman, Canton, Kansas; Rev. J. W. Kliewer, Xevifton, Kansas; R. A- Goerz, Newton, Kansas; Rev. Abr. Raty.laff, Moundridge, Kansas; J. G. Regier, Newton, Kansas; Dr. R. S. Haury, Newton, Kan.; Jacob Isaac, Moundridge, Kan. (not present) ♦Representative for H. P. Goertz, Mountain Lake, Minn. OFFICERS President, Rev. Abr. Ratzlaff; Vice President, R. A. G erz; Secretary, Jacob Isaac; Treasurer, J. G. Regier.