Denison University - Adytum Yearbook (Granville, OH)

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Languages, Physics from Chemistry, Geology from Botany. New men have been provided to assist in the w ork in Philosophy and in English, and the splendid new astronomical observatory and tel- escope to be given to Denison this year will doubtless call for cor- responding enlargement of the curriculum. The equipment of the various departments and of the libraries has increased at a remark- able rate during the past decade, by reason of the 200,000 Equip- ment Fund made possible by Mr. Rockefeller ' s gift, and even increased by the Science Hall fire, which seemed so irreparable a disaster at the time but which has resulted in giving Denison one of the finest scientific equipments in the West. J. Material Resources. In 1853, after twenty-two years of existence, the college had resources amounting to $13,772.65. At the end of its first genera- tion it had raised the sum of 75,000 altogether but its total resources in money and equipment were estimated by President Talbot at about $50,000. Then came the first successful movement, made during the Civil War, for an endowment. $100,000 was raised by an eff ort of several years culmin ating in 1867. It was to this fund that John D. Rockefeller made his first subscription of $500, appar- ently being compelled to give his note for a year at 7 per cent. This fund was guarded absolutely from the use of any part of the princi- pal, and so pleased were Ohio Baptists with the result that they proceeded under the stimulus of generous conditional offers of Mr. E. E. Barney of Dayton, father of our present trustee and benefactor, to raise first a fifty thousand dollar fund, then a twenty-five thousand dollar fund and soon after a thirty-five thousand dollar fund for the erection of what is now called Talbot Hall, so that within about five years the resources of Denison had grown from $50,000 to about a quarter of a million. No advance movement on the part of Denison is likely ever to exceed the importance of the achievement of the decade dating from about 1865 to 1875. By 1883 Denison had about $400,000, and by 1898 the resources of Denison and Shepard- son cornbined equalled three-quarters of a million, where the mark stood till the endowment movement of 1900. The first decade of the twentieth century, when gifts and conditional offers already made have matured, will bring the resources well up toward a million and a half, making the gain in resources, on their face, nearly as great for the first decade of the new century as for all of the century preceding. But other considerations prove that the gain has been far greater even than this. The extensive improve- ments in the curriculum, in the teaching force, in scientific buildings and equipment, in dormitory and boarding equipment, and the page nine

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students, we find that the increase from 1898 to 1909 is from 129 to 301. It will be noted that the catalogue of 1909 shows a slight decrease in the total enrollment of the university, i. e., from 584 in 1908 to 552 in 1909. This was expected from the fact that three things conspired to cut down the gross attendance, viz.: The con- tinued financial depression throughout the country which made it difficult for students to secure remunerative work last summer and for parents to send students to college; the necessary increase of college fees by nearly 60 per cent beginning with this year; and in addition to all this the lengthening of the Academy course to four years, thus afl ording no gain in time over the Fligh School course which could be taken at home, and indeed the refusal of girls for the first year of High School work by the beginning of the Shepard- son Preparatory work with the second year ' s studies. All of these conspiring events cut down the total attendance slightly, but it is noticeable that this is only in the Preparatory, Music and Art Depart- ments. In the College itself the increase in attendance in regular college classes as compared with 1908 has increased from 280 to 301. Another direction in which the numerical progress is shown is in the relative stability of the student attendance in the college as compared with former times even a decade distant. A noticeable and unfortunate feature of former days was that relatively few who came to Denison completed the college course. The number of non-graduates in any institution is large, but in Denison it was abnormal, as may be seen from the fact that while the total college attendance ten or fifteen years ago was as much smaller as has been shown, yet the number of new students each year was large. The fact that much has been accomplished toward ensuring a perman- ency of attendance is seen by noting the size of the graduating classes, and by the astonishing fact that, counting the Class of 1909, the number of living graduates since 1900 (385) exceeds those of the entire preceding history of the college which began in 1831; and that of the entire body of 901 alumni more than one-half have been graduated since 1896. 2. The Strengthened Curriculum. In 1898 there were but nine full professorships. In 1908-9 there were fourteen, besides other additions to the faculty. Courses have been greatly strengthened both in requirements for matricula- tion and graduation, in the provision of more adequate teaching force and in the general heightening of standards all along the line. Entire new chairs of History and Economics and of Engineering have been established, while other departments have been separated with each a professor at its head, as the German from the Romance page eight

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benefits afforded by the central heating and lighting plant, and by the two gymnasiums with their physical directors, have enabled the university to increase its income very largely. The income of Denison has already exceeded 65,000, only about half of this being from endowments. The balance should also be reckoned as rep- resenting resources of the institution, and when capitalized on a five per cent basis it represents nearly two-thirds of a million to be added to the resources of Denison. This would make of the University a two million dollar plant and as soon as it has adjusted itself to its new financial schedule and the country has definitely entered upon a new period of prosperity, the income of the college will largely increase. New buildings will be provided for the accommodation of those who have been turned away in recent years for want of room, and we may expect the second decade of the century to show perhaps a still more brilliant record than the first. 4. Denison s Increasing Radius of Influence. It is well known that all institutions of learning draw the bulk of their students from within a radius of 100 miles or so of their location. This is true even of great institutions like Harvard. Every institution which has lived for a generation or more with any success comes to have at least a sporadic attendance from distant places sent by enthusiastic alumni. Yet some of our excellent col- leges, located in cities, though increasing in resources, have a less extended radius of influence than they had a generation ago. It is especially difiicult in these days of the big institutions numbering thousands of students out of which to choose winning athletic teams, for a college of moderate size to draw students from a wide range of territory. It means much, therefore, that Denison has doubled the proportion of students from beyond the state in the last decade. In 1898 there were but 56 students from outside of Ohio. In 1908 the catalogue assigned 107 to localities beyond the boundaries of the state, while at least 25 more who are credited in the catalogue to Granville, came to Granville from points outside of Ohio, the fam- ilies removing to this place solely for educational purposes. Some thirty states and eight foreign countries are represented. Michigan, which in 1898, had two students, in 1908 had eight, Pennsylvania increased from eight to thirteen, Illinois from five to twenty-five. New York from four to eight, Massachusetts from one to seven. There has been quite a growth in city attendance from localities which formerly sent their students elsewhere. Dayton has increased its representation in the decade from seven to nineteen, Cleveland from one to eight, Chicago from two to five, and Newark from twenty-one to fifty-three. It is a significant thing that much of the page ten