Gettysburg College - Spectrum Yearbook (Gettysburg, PA)

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I 4 ':'Af :'f 5 vAAf41 .- ,-.f- Xf - -lfi 5 W2 1 .. 'ff 'A 1','4'-' i f ff ' ' f ' V History of Pennsylvania College BY REV. C. F. SANDERS, A.M., D.D. ENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE was founded by the Lutheran Church. Her leading pa- 'trons have been Lutherans. Their primary purpose was to furnish and maintain an insti- tution of advanced education for the young people of the Church. At the beginning this 9 meant preparation for the direct service of the Church, the ministry. With the advance in general culture the mission and program of the College gradually expanded to meet the needs of all who were seeking advanced academic instruction. This expansion did not involve any change in purpose or mission, simply the normal differentiation of function. The spirit of the Lutheran Church has constantly given direction and tone to the expressed mission of the College. This mission has been twofold: on the one hand the College has aimed to give thorough academic training to the sons of her constituency, and on the other to contribute to our total civilization the influence of the Lutheran spirit through the men who should thus come under her training. The Christian Church has been the educational pioneer throughout the whole of our western civilization. When the civilizations of antiquity were hopelessly disintegrating, Christianity furnished the inspiration and motive for a new civilization which arose, Phoenix-like, from the ruins of the old. Education, through the offices of the Church and the school, was the instrument of regeneration and reconstruction. Religion furnished the adequate motive. The rapid expansion of knowledge following the renaissance, together with the conservatism of the Church, led to the founding of independent Classical and Scientific schools. The Church eventually recognized the mission of science and incorporated the scientific branches in her educa- tional program. The religious controversies, involving the vexed question of the relation of Church and State, as well as the problem of the method of authority in relation to the method of scientific induction, led to the founding of separate schools devoted to the purely secular interests of the state and of society. This movement in some cses involved the repudiation of the Church in the admin- istration of things educational. Many of the schools which owed their origin to the Church adopted the policy of the independent schools and repudiated the Church. Pennsylvania College has re- capitulated the general line of advanced educational development. She has incorporated the field of science. She has not repudiated the Church. l-ler problem still remains the same, viz., expanding her curriculum to meet the growing demands of science on the one hand, and permeating all her work with the spirit and ethics of Christianity on the other. l-ler future is in the hands of her patrons. We are writing history, not prophecy. The Gettysburg Classical Preparatory School, out of which Pennsylvania College originated, was founded in 1827 for the purpose Hof supplying the needs of a Classical Sohool to prepare young men for theological study. ln ISZ9 a scientific department was added and the School re- named, Gettysburg Ciymnasium. The College Charter was granted in 1832 and the formal organ- ization took place on the fourth of July of the same year. These two lines of study, the Classical and the Scientific, expanding as rapidly as the means provided permitted, represent the educational history of the College to the close of President lVlcKnight's administration in l904. During the twenty years of Dr. Mclfnightis Presidency the endowment was increased, the department of Chem- Page Eighteen

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'SFQQB CLYDE BELL STovER, M.A., Assistant Professor in Chemistry. A.B., Pennsylvania College, 18945 Graduate work, Johns Hopkins University, 1894-95, Instructor in Chem- istry, Pennsylvania College, IS96-l9I5, A.M., Pennsylvania College, I9l2g Assistant Professor in Chem- istry, Pennsylvania College, l9l5g Member, Philomathean Literary Society. JAMES ALLEN DICKSON, A.B., A.M., Instructor in Chemistry. A.B., Pennsylvania College, l905g graduate work at University of Pennsylvania and at Pennsylvania College: Assistant in Chemistry, Pennsylvania College, I907-15, Instructor in Chemistry, Pennsylvania College, l9l 5-g Member of the 2 X Fraternity. FRED GALLAGHER TROXELL, A.B., A.M., Instructor in Mathematics. A.B., Pennsylvania College, l908g A.M., Pennsylvania College, 1909: Assistant in Mathematics, Pennsyl- vania College, 1908-15, Instructor in Mathematics, Pennsylvania College, I9l5-g Member of the Phrena- lcosmian Literary Society. PAUL SNYDER CREAGER, A.B., Instructor in Physics. A.B., Pennsylvania College, l9I 35 Assistant in Physics, Pennsylvania College, l9l3-I5g Graduate work at I Pennsylvania College ancl at Cornell Universityg Instructor in Physics, Pennsylvania College, l9I5-g Mem- ber of the Phrenakosmian Literary Society. SPURGEON MILTON KEENY, A.B., Instructor in English. A.B., Pennsylvania College, l9I4g Instructor in English and History, Gettysburg Academy, I9l4-I5g Gradu- ate work at Pennsylvania College and at University of Chicago: Instructor in English, Pennsylvania College, l9I5-g Elected Rhodes Scholar from Pennsylvania, l9l5g Member of the Penn and Sword Honorary So- ciety and of the Phrenalcosmian Literary Society. CARL HEINZ BE!-ILE, A.B., Assistant in Modern Languages. Graduated from the Oberrealschule at Bochum and Hagen-Westf.g Graduate work at University of Berlin, Uni- versity of Bonn, and at the University of Commercial Sciences at Cologneg traveled through Europe: taught at the Burdon School of Languages, St. Louis Mo., I9l4-155 Assistant in Modern Languages, Pennsylvania College, I9I5-. GEORGE LLOYD REINERT, B.S., Assistant in Engineerirg. B.S., Civil Engineering Course, Pennsylvania State College, l9l5g Assistant in Engineering, Pennsylvania Col- lege, l9l5-g Member of the 21 fb E Fraternity andthe Civil Engineering Society of Pennsylvania State Col- lege. ' CHARLES PAUL CESSNA, A.B., Assistant in Physics. A.B., Pennsylvania College, I9l 53 Post-graduate work at Pennsylvania College, Assistant in Physics, Penn- sylvania College, 1915-g Member of the Phrenakosmian Literary Society, and of the Druid Fraternity. GEORGE W. WRITING, A.B., A.M., Assistant in English. A.B., West Virginia University, I908g taught at Preparatory Branch, West Virginia University, 1908-l2g Graduate work, Harvard, l9lZ-I4, A.M., Harvard, l9I3g taught at Normal School, Shepherdstown, W. Va., I9I 4-l 6g Assistant in English, Pennsylvania College, I9l 6-. Page Seventeen

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XK I t s . .t A a e r r .:,.gf 5 'f. ',4':'1 F1 A.'. I - ' ' - '4.A 45 A:-f- 2.ijgiQ'iff i,'QQi?Q5i',,0 Q0 if ...f.3 in .,:. I if'i.f E -,: sQ1,. Q .,ZV ..A:- A-1ii 3 P .l-,4- . 5 21.,,.T,'5g:'1,.1w istry organized and developed, the department of Biology added and fully equipped, the chair of Bible established, and Glatfelter Hall, Brua Chapel, and South College were built. The brief term of President I-lefelbower's administration is marked by the reconstruction of the educational program. The department of Physics, with a fully equipped Laboratory, was added, the department of Modern Languages with two full Professors finstead of the German chair devot- ing part time to other subjectsj, and the department of Philosophy were established. The program of elective Group courses was begun during this period. During the Presidency of William Anthony Granville, LL.D., which began in l9l0, the Group program of courses has been fully worked out: the endowment fund increased by two hun- dred thousand dollars, the department of Political Science fformerly associated with English, established, the department of Engineering, offering courses in four distinct lines of engineering study, with three men giving full time, added, the Bible study associated with the work of the Pro- fessor of History, a department of Education, with five courses, associated with the department of Philosophy, the English department expanded to the extent of a full Professor and two assistants, a new Academy building to cost fifty thousand dollars under construction, a commodious addition to the Chemical Laboratory under construction, and a definite movement launched by The Woman's League of the College at its last convention to erect a thirty thousand dollar Y. Nl. C. A. building. The present year is notable in the history of the College for having the first Freshman class to pass the hundred mark ftotal 1243. The year marks the following additions and changes in the Faculty: Professor Ashworth, Ph.D., has charge of the department of Political Science, Pro- fessor Allen, C.E., the work in Civil Engineering resigned by Professor Kirby, Mr. Keeny, AB., Assistant in English in the place of Mr. Moser, resigned, Mr. Whiting, A.lVI., additional Assistant in English, Mr. Behle, Assistant in Modern Languages. The work of the whole curriculum has been moving forward with vigor. It is with profound regret that we record the sickness of Dr. Nixon, who fell ill during the Christmas vacation and has thus far been unable to resume his duties. Professor Erwin, A.lVl., has been appointed to have charge of Dr. Nixon's work until he is in condition to resume his place again. Two cases of scarlet fever which developed in the student body about the beginning of De- cember likewise produced a wave of excitement that will render the year memorable. In athletics the record of the year has been good. The various teams have had good schedules and made good scores. The social life of the institution, under the care of the Faculty Committee on Social Functions, Dean Bikle and Professor Allen, has been flourishing. The Student Council, in charge of Student Government, which dissolved last year, has been re- established and at this writing the long-talked-of Honor System seems about to become a fact dur- ing the present semester. The favorable sentiment is most promising. The facts must speak for themselves. Past achievement is the result of the loyal support of the College constituency, future claim of support rests upon present eflicienoy. The achievements, the program, and the efficiency of Pennsylvania College certify to the character of her work and define her place in the general educational program of the age. Page Nineteen