Denison University - Adytum Yearbook (Granville, OH)

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ton, resigned, a feeling of deep satisfaction was manifest among all the friends of the University. The wisdom of the choice was felt by all, but there was a doubt in the minds of many as to whether Dr. Hunt would give up his work as a pastor, for which he was so eminently fitted, to become the head of an educational institution. The question was most happily answered, however, when Dr. Hunt ' s letter accepting the Presidency was received. As President Hunt himself said, in his first chapel talk to the students, In accepting the Presidency of Deni- son University, I am not resigning my work a.s a Christian minister. I am only taking it up in another and a broader field. Dr. Hunt was married in 1887 to Miss Josephine M. Kendrick, daughter of Dr. A. C. Kendrick, professor of Greek in the University of Rochester. She lived only three years after their marriage, leaving one daughter, Helen K. Hunt. In 1892 he was joined in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Olney, of Waltham, Mass. They have two daughters, Harriet and Carolyn. Mrs. Hunt is a lady of culture and of charming personality, and combines rare social and intellectual gifts. A woman of engaging presence, a warm and sympathetic friend, she will add much to the life of the University. Dr. Hunt entered upon his work here in January, 1903, the Claren- don Street Church having made a special request that he remain in Boston until the end of the year. President Hunt is a fine type of Christian manhood and his genuineness, his simplicity of manner and his unfailing courtesy and tactfulness have already secured for him a strong hold on the affections of faculty and students. He is keenly alive to the modern improvements in educational methods and one instinctively feels that he will keep Denison abreast of the advance movement. President Hunt has come among us as a leader, not only by virtue of his exceptional executive and intellectual ability, but also by virtue of his magnificent physical strength and his power as a Christian gentleman. Personal magnetism he possesses in a marvel- ous degree, and the wholesomeness of his manhood is feh by all with whom he comes in contact. With his earnestness and deep conviction of duty, his breadth of sympathy and his power of exertmg persona! influence over others, he combines many of the virtues of an ideal college president. C. A. M., ' 03. 12

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Our President It is especially fitting that the Adytum for 1902 should contain some word of the man in whom the interest of the University is centered, Our President. Emory William Hunt was born P ebruary 2, 18G2, in East Clarence, Erie County, New York. His father had been called to the pastorate of the Baptist church in that place in 1855, remaining there until his death in 1898. Here at the district school and later at the High School in the village three miles from his home, the boy received his early education. At the age of fifteen he left home to prepare for college, entering the BuiTalo State Normal School, from which he graduated in 1880. His college course was pursued at the University of Rochester, where, during the four years in which he remained there, he received many prizes in Mathematics and Latin, and gained an enviable repu- tation as a speaker and in literary work. The Alpha Delta Phi Fra- ternity claims Dr. Hunt as one of its most distinguished members, and he is also a member of the graduate fraternity. Phi Beta Kappa.. In preparation for his life work, Dr. Hunt, in 1884, entered Crozer Theological Seminary, completing his course in 1887. He went di- rectly from here to the pastorate of the Ashland Avenue Baptist church, of Toledo, remaining there thirteen years, during which time the church grew from a membership of 70 to 550, and became one of the strongest and most influential churches in the State of Ohio. Dr. Hunt was the first President of the B. Y. P. U. of Ohio, and was for six years Chairman of the International Board of Managers, and a member of its Executive Committee. For a number of years, up to his leaving Ohio, our President was one of the trustees of Denison University, and. while still pastor of the Ashland Avenue church, devoted a year to increasing the endow- ment of the University, for six months of that time being absent from the church, with the consent of his parishoners. In April, 1900, Dr. Hunt received a unanimous call to become the pastor of the Clarendon Street Baptist Church, of Boston, as the suc- cessor of the late Dr. A. J. Gordon. He accepted the call, and entered on his work September 1. His success here was very marked. In addition to the duties of his pastorate, he was actively engaged in Chris- tian work as President of the Gordon Bible and Missionary Training School. When, in June, 1901, the Trustees of Denison University met and unanimously elected Dr. Hunt President, to succeed Dr. D. B. Purin- 11

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Alma Matriotism This is a new word made especially for the Adytum in an effort to express a certain valuable thought in a single word. It is a queer-sound- ing word at first, but we all know what it means, and it brings a flood of tender feeling after we have become familiar with its sound. Why do we love old Denison? Each of us would answer the ques- tion in our own way, yet we would find much in common awakening the same feeling. A few years ago we breathed its pure September air for the first time ; we walked under its maple trees, bright with their autumn foliage and the leaves rustled about our feet as we came and went from class to class. Perhaps we sat upon the grass with a fellow student and looking across the valley through the blue autumnal haze, saw the corn fields with their regular rows of shocks, saw the bunches of glorious woods, saw the winding row of sycamores that marks the course of Raccoon creek, and saw the little village half hid in the bright foliage. The first seeds of a sacred love were then dropped into our hearts where they have found rich soil. Those seeds have grown. Social experiences, athletic enthusiasm, and class-room life, have all contributed to the germination of those seeds. In many a case it is now a sturdy plant. It is all the sturdier because of some of the severities through which it has passed. He who has met defeat for old Denison, either in in- tellectual or athletic contest, usually loves her more than one who has not had that experience. The wild enthusiasm and determination are not forgotten in a day and men are prone to love most those for whom they have sufifered most. Yet victory is ours at times and not a little of our love comes with the memorv of our success. Some people who have not had our experience wonder that we should have such a love for our Alma Mater, when there are so many greater universities — schools whose students number thousands to our hundreds, whose faculties, buildings and equipment cost manv times those of ours. Yet our elders tell us that it is a question whether such universities fit their students better for the real struggles of life, and for true living. The science which we study may not make us all specialists, but it teaches us to stand in awe of Him whose hand guides the planets in their stately, steady courses, and at the same time fashions the pale, tender structure of a petal at which we gaze through a microscope. We learn enough of literature to know where to find some of the good writings. We learn to enjoy them. We may not all be critics of metre and tone color, but if we have studied well, we have good taste. 13