Earlham College - Sargasso Yearbook (Richmond, IN)

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THE SARGASSO 1914 islation it is because the Earlham faculty is a progressive Ijoily of men and women, holding- to the good in the old but willing to dis- cover the good in the new. Earlham has always stood for sound morality as well as snunti scholarship and has held the view that really jound morality can be obtained only in conjunction with the religious life. The col- lege has stood from the first therefore for po •itivc religious ex- perience as a factor of the highest type of personality. So neces- sary has this been in the estimation of the management that the discipline of the Church under whose auspices the college is con- ducted, has been the guide in matters of amusements as well as in the deeper things of the spirit. The college has been loyal to its ideals in this respect also, and it finds its ultimate jus- tification in the men and women, who, with this training, have gone forth to bless humanity. Material expansion has gone hand and hand with the expan- sion of Earlham ' s fundamental ideals. There have been two building eras since the erection of the original building — Earlham Hall. The first was in 1887 when Lindley Hall and Parry Hal! were erected: the second in 1907 when Bundy Hall, the Library, and the Heating Plant were placed on the campus. .Since that time the energies of the management have been expended in rais- ing the standard of scholarship and life so that Earlham, meas- ured by any of the modern standards, will be second to none in the field of college work; and in improving the financial condi-

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THE SARGASSO 1914 [ EARLHAM COLLEGE. The early events in the developnieiit of Earlhani we know have heen recounted so often in various ciillese and popular pubHcations that it seems unnecessary to state them again. There are, how- ever, certain Mutstanilini;- facts wliich friends of Earlhani shduld nut tire of liearing. One of thciii is that at a time wiien women were given few educational privileges, the founders of our college tlared to throw their doors open both to men and women, establishing no educatinnal restrictions based on sex distinctions. Probably or.ly two other colleges in the country took this stand so earlx. Women have always participated in tiie administration of the college, as well. Never has there l.een a time when there were not able and influential women on the Board of Trustees and in the h ' aculty. .Meantime the great state Universities have developed and have justified on a large scale the soundness of this i)rinciple in education so early adopted by the Earlham fathers and mnthers. Earlhani is also one of the few well-known colleges in the L ' nitcd States that do not have and have never had fraternities or sororities. This is sinipl - another manifestation of the degree to which the management has stood for the idea cf an educational deniocracv. The college has not fostered aristocracy or snobbishness or secrecy. It has .stood for social solidarity and has given every student a chance to count for as much as his talent and energy would warrant. Years of experience ha e proved the wisdom of the founders in this respect, and the fine spirit of CAMAR.ADERIE which permeates the Earlham atmosphere- today is the result of the efhn-t, conscious and unconscious, to build up a college society free from artificial barriers. Manx colleges todav that have secret soci- eties would be glad to he rid of them and as is w.ll known st;ite legislatures have passed laws against their existence in the high schools. Earlhani has been a leader in the advanced movements in education. The first conspicuous illus- tration of this is found in the introduction of scientific studies and the laboratory method. Years reat teachers freely put questions to nature and as freelv awaited nature ' s ion to use experiiiiental methods in sci- the museum and th laboratories ikUc from this period of pedagogic courage. Eater the college led in other r.,nns of practical study md in recent years the members of the faculty have heen alert .students of educational science with the courage to jiut their convictions to test. iMio one can keep up with the Earlhan- facnltv Ic - ago I ' .arlliaiii answers. No college in Indiana began so ence study and instr.iclii n. The observator '

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THE SARGASSO 1914 [ tion by the liquidation of the building ' debt and the increasing ol the endowment. Within about five years no less than $280,000 in cash or the equivalent has been handed over to the College by its loyal friends. The plant of the college is now worth well nigh a half-million, while the endowment, productive and improductive, has gone quite bevond the half million mark. Today nur greatest need in the way of material equipment is a iiKKlern and liberally proportioned gymnasium, for Earlham has always stood for the development of the body as well as the mind and spirit. It is to be hoped that the promoters of the preserii Sargasso will give this movement such initial momentum that th- college historian of the next Sargasso may add a bright new chap- ter to the story of Earlham ' s progress, by recounting the steps in the materialization of our present gymnasium ideals. ROP.ERT LINCOLX KELLY.