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Page 21 text:
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CLASS EDITORS -
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Page 22 text:
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®be HniurrsUu HE history of the George Washington University has been that of the struggle of perseverance and determination. We are fitly proud of those who have bestowed upon the University such assistance as was in their power in overcoming its apparently insurmountable difficulty. I hat the institution has attained efficiency is the result of the indefatigable efforts of those interested in promulgating the dream of George Wash- ington. The idea of a National University at the National Capital dates from the beginning of our country ' s history. George Washington in his will set aside a large sum of money for the founding of such an institution, and pictured his dream of the new city on the Potomac as a center of a broad, national culture. I homas Jefferson, who drew up the first plan for the educational system of the District of Columbia, outlined three branches or stages of public education: the primary schools, the academy, and a university. Congress doubted its authority under the Constitution to establish a university, and took no action at the time. To this day the bequest has not been fulfilled. I he beginnings of the present George Washington University can be traced back to the year 1819, when Luther Rice, a Baptist minister, impressed by the splendid oppor- tunities afforded to a college in the National Capital, set about energetically soliciting subscriptions from all classes of people all over the United States for the foundation of a college. By the aid of President Monroe a charter was secured from Congress in 1821 for the establishment of “The Columbian College in the District of Columbia,” for the sole and exclusive purchase of educating youth in the English, learned, and foreign languages, the liberal arts, sciences, and literature, and with power to confer all degrees usually conferred by institutions of collegiate rank. The broad principles on which our University was founded are sufficiently indicated by a provision in our original charter to the effect that persons of all religious denominations shall be capable of being elected trustees, nor shall any person , either as president, professor, tutor, or pupil, be refused admittance into said college or denied any of the privileges, immunities, or advan- tages thereof, for or on account of his sentiments in matters of religion. A tract of land on what is known now as Columbia Heights was purchased with the money raised by Luther Rice through subscription, and a college building was com- pleted in 1822, Among the noted Americans and Britons who contributed to the fund were John Quincy Adams, William F. Crawford, John C. Calhoun, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Bishop of Durham, Lord Ashburton, Sir James McIntosh, as well as a number of members of Congress and other distinguished people. The formal opening of the College took place on January 9, 1822, with the Rev. William Staughton as president, and thirty-nine students in attendance. Only the theo- logical and classical departments were opened at this time. Within the next five years, however, the law, medical, philosophical, and preparatory departments were opened in rapid succession. The first commencement took place on December 15, 1824, when three men were graduated before President Monroe, General Lafayette, the Secretaries of State, War, and Navy, and leading members of both Houses of Congress. The College showed a steady increase in the number of its students, and as early as 1824 had on its rolls one hundred and fifty students, representing twenty-one out of the twenty- four States, This number has increased within the past few years to a maximum in the neighborhood of 1,500 students, representing every State and Territory in the Union, as well as a dozen or more foreign countries. IB
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