Case Western Reserve University - Lux / Differential Yearbook (Cleveland, OH)

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Loyalty. by president Charles P. Cbwing. In the organization of the higher education in the United States three types of the American college are emerging. One type is that of the college which depends upon the church for support, another type is that which depends upon the individual or the general community for sup- port and one type is that which depends upon the state for support. The first type is the ordinary denominational college. The second type is a college such as Columbia. The third type is the ordinary state university. To the second of these three types XVestern Reserve belongs. It is Chris- tian, but it is not denominational. lt leans upon the community, but not upon the common-Wealth. These three types are not, however, so com- pletely distinct as might at first thought appear. The denominational college often holds intimate relations to individ- uals outside of its own church, and also the denominational college has for many years drawn aid from the common-wealth. Colleges, too, which rest upon the unorganized community or upon individuals have also received aid from the state. Cornell has been, and still is, the recipient of large revenues from the state of New York. Colleges, too, which are an integral part of the public education of the state have been aided to a greater or less extent by individuals. lVlichigan has re- ceived funds from private resources, and four years ago the University of Miniiesota received a gift at least a part of which was used in the erec- tion of Pillsbury Hall. - Each of these types has its advantages. The denominational college represents the intimacy of the relation that exists between religion and learning, a relation historic and vital. The individual college stands for the most precious conditions, for the promotion of scholarship and for the development of character. The state college or the state university em- bodies the idea that the Whole people is concerned in the securing of a suiiicient number of well trained citizens to insure the efficiency and per- IO

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Book I. Che University

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petuity of the state. No one type need fully exclude the others and the three types are found existing in not a few of our commonswealths. Each of these types lays upon those who are interested in the devel- opment of a college belonging to that special type, peculiar and indi- vidual duties. The fact that VVestern Reserve rests rather upon the unorganized community and upon the individual, creates a special duty both for the students and for the graduates of the University. This duty is summed up in the word loyalty, Those who are students and those who have been students wish to do and can do much for the promotion of the interests of their alma wzfzfar. They cannot bring a zeal born of ecclesiastical propogandism. Neither can they cause the revenues of the state to flow into the collegiate coffers. Neither of these advantages is desired by the authorities of the college. Both students and graduates can, however, be loyal to the institution of which they are or have been an integral part. This loyalty should not be a blind one. A man should not say of his college My college, right or wrong He should always say, My college: if she is right, God bless her and let me help her further, if she is Wrong, may I be of service in trying to put her rightf, Enthusiastic loyalty should be founded upon sound judgment and common sense. Such loyalty Western Reserve is receiving from both students and graduates. It constitutes a powerful agency and is a heritage of increasing worth. I shall now refer to two and only two ways in which this loyalty may be indicated, First, by commending to the University in its various departments, students who are qualified to profit by the advantages which the University offers. Wfestern Reserve does not wish ill-qualified stu- dents. It does not desire students who are to spend a few months, and a few months only, within its walls. It desires students who are sound in body, sound in character and sound in mind, who aim to make the most of themselves and to secure the richest advantages from the University itself. Commending to XN7estern Reserve men and women of this charac- ter represents a most opportune condition for the manifesting of the loyalty which the student or the graduate holds. It is also to be said that loyalty should be manifested in the endeavor to improve the equipment of the University. A college, like a bicycle, cannot stand still without falling. It must go forward or backward if it is to stand at all, and of course Westei'n Reserve cannot retreat. Therefore the duty of a constant improvement of the equipment is laid upon the University authorities. The enlargement of the collections in the museums, the better furnishing of laboratories, the increase of the endowment through gifts large or small, represent opportunities in which the alleg- iance of students, present or former, may be indicated. i 1 r