DePauw University - Mirage Yearbook (Greencastle, IN)

Page 12 text:

Indiana Asbury-De-Peznw University tv EPAUW UNIVERSITY is the projected shadow of Indiana Methodism. Never in its history has one man's ideas or purse dominated the institution. It stands today a composite result of many minds and contributions from countless friends. In the early frontier days when Indiana was still a wilderness, dotted here and there with clearings and towns, the Methodist Church was even then a living force in the state. In the primitive conditions of that time the leaders of Indiana Methodism realized the need for an instituton of higher learning and the obligation upon the Church to found and support one. The first expression of this was the action of the Indiana Conference of 1832 in adopting a-report, submitted by Allen Wiley, Calvin W. Rutter and james Armstrong, that a college, under good literary and moral regulations, would be of incaleulable benefit to our people. In I835 the Indiana Conference passed a resolution to establish Indiana Asbury University, the institution to be named in honor of the great pioneer bishop of Methodism. The slate legislature granted a charter, january 10, 1837, creating the university corporation, which was forever to be conducted on the most liberal principles accessible to all religious denominations, and designated for the benefit of our citizens in general. It is in these words that the true spirit and ideal of the University is found. Always under the patronage of the Methodist Church, the institution has consistently sought to hold before its students ideals of christian living as well as the torch of truth. The doors of the University have always swung open to students of all religious denom- inations and from all countries and in no sense has its policy ever been narrowly sectarian. The chief competitors for the site of the institution were Putnam- ville, Rockville, Madison, Lafayette, Indianapolis and Greencastle. The latter, a village of five hundred, ojfered the largest financial in- ducement, a subscription of eighteen thousand dollars, and was selected. From this began the long and harmonious association between the citizens of Greencastle and the University.

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FT TI ub-bub ofo ege life W MES in the h ur col- e are prone to f' wh h orget those o ave made possible this for us. It is tl privilege , ierefore, our humble and als ' most futile purpose to attempt to pay our meagre tribute to the lives and spirit of OUR PARENTS. Some ot' them are sac in f rihcing to h l our struggle F e p us or a higher educationug some have no Hnancial worries to hamper them in aiding us. Some of them can offer up only Prayers for our success, and some have passed already in to the Great Beyond. But in spite of these differences, in spite ot the digerent strata of society, we feel that the devoted relation between parents and sons, between parents a d merits n daughters, a monument which we dedication, ca l , in this n f'ulHll only partially. Cur lives are their lives, our sorrows their Sorrows, our victories their victories. ln time of triumph we wear the laurel wreath, but they broadcast the honor, in time ot' sorrow, we pay the penalty but they bear the burden . It is to that spirit ot' unswerving love and und ' that w d ' ying devotion e edicate this, our Annual SX

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In September, 1839, the first regular faculty, under the presidency of the Rev. Matthew Simpson, ofered instruction to the student body of eleven. The corner stone of the original college building tnow West Collegej had been laid in 1837 and the University toolf possession in 1840. Thus was initiated the long and useful career of Indiana Asbury. The history of the institution and its possibilities of service have been dominated by its struggle for funds. It should be remembered that every dollar of the University's capital investment in campus buildings, equipment and endowment has come as a voluntary gift. The fees paid by students from the beginning have not been more than half of the cost upon the University for instructional purposes. In 1883 long continued financial stress threatened its continued operation. At this time Washington C. DePauw began his notable benefactions to the University and, over his protest, Indiana Asbury gave may to DePauw University. Through large and small gifts from many friends the institution has grown until now the campus has eighteen buildings and the productive endowment is approximately three million dollars. However, the University today faces a critical problem, a problem created by its constantly increasing student body. The financial resources of the institution have grown but the student body has grown faster. Moreover the purchasing power of the University's income has materially declined. The educational ideal has been that of a high grade college emphasizing instruction in small classes where the instructor has an opportunity to study the personal problem presented by each student and to bring out the best in that student. With the present large student body, and a faculty limited in number by the financial inability of the University to employ more, the students are forced into large classes and the possibilities of individual attention to each student fades to a mini- mum. With its present fnancial resources, the University has already passed the limits of safe expansion. As it was in the beginning, so it is now, growth has forced upon the University a ceaseless search for funds with which to meet in adequate degree the increasing demands of its constituency. ' W. W. CARSON