Hampden Sydney College - Kaleidoscope Yearbook (Hampden Sydney, VA)

Page 27 text:

Some Distinctive Features of Hampden-Sidney College. By George H. Denny, Ph. D. HE rapid growth of the great modern university with its immense endow- ment has introduced a new problem into the American scheme of educa- tion. That such universities must exist and ought to exist no one can deny: that they are to be viewed as necessities in this age of specialization is equally evident. There are, however, some dangers connected with the evolution of the plans and purposes of those who are shaping the policy of such institutions. In the first place, there is an evident tendency on the part of these universities to combine strictly college li. tt, undergradnatel work with university ti. c.. post-graduatel training, and thus by the strength of financial endowment and great external display to supersede the time-honored under-graduate institutions, which have been the pride and center of our educational system. In the second place, there is a still stronger intiuence proceeding from these great modern universities seeking to infuse into the under-graduate colleges the university spirit and ideals. Hampden-Sidney College is to be congratulated that it has entirely resisted these pernicious tendencies, or rather influences. The aim of the under-graduate student is entirely different from that of the post-graduate., or professional, student: the former is seeking to secure breadth of view and the acquisition of knowledge along a variety of lines: the latter is engaged in specialization along a very limited number of lines. These two aims can not exist satisfactorily side by side in the same institution: and hence the distinctively under-graduate college must and will continue to assert its claim as a distinct and essential unit in our educational scheme, unless we are prepared to destroy the very back-bone of the entire system. It is quite as rational to undertake to dispense with the academy as preparatory to the college as it is to seek to destroy or impair the influence of the under-graduate college. The friends and alumni of Hampden-Sidney feel grateful for its strong and righteous stand against many of the modern innovations suggested by the so-called scientific spirit. It is not to be understood. however, that Hampden-Sidney has not been wisely progressive: for it has kept well abreast the progress of the age. lint the point we desire to emphasize is that it has also been conservative and wisely maintained its high position as distinctively an under-graduate college. the cham- pion of liberal culture, and a solid general education. 2I

Page 26 text:

weave into verse or prose. The noble history of the College, at times thrilling as a romance, should be inspiration enough for the youthful historian. The great minds that have lived and wrought there should furnish subjects for interesting and instructive biographies. The natural scenery-the woods and streams- and the memories associated with them and the stories others have told of them should give the outline for many an interesting romance. All these could End expression and preservation in THE li.xLl51DosCo1'1i, and give a delicate flavor and local color to the book. I have looked over many animals from large colleges and universities, and the great majority of them are only summaries of statistics, a long array of life- less facts and Figures. And one year-book differs from another only in the names of the members of the clubs, etc. The annual from the smaller college can give more space to fiction, poetry, histories, and biographies. These characteristics stamp the book, lend to it local coloring, and permit some shadowing forth of the delicate tints of college existence and spirit. As we look over the old li.x1.E1DosCo1'Es, we feel a warmth and glow, an eagerness to shout as of old the college yell. Here is something contagious, something personal. something individual. The living spirit behind the facts, the beating heart within the body. fb fewfe 20

Page 28 text:

Among the distinctive features of Hampden-Sidney College the following are, in my judgment, the most prominent and important: I. Its tenacious clinging to a well attested curriculum course. This does not mean that the student may not make a limited and judicious election of certain studies at certain stages of his college career: but it does mean that Hampden- Sidney will not subordinate its own judgment of what a liberal education is or ought to be, to the passing fancy of the untrained student, who may or may not, know what is the best course for him to pursue. Thus, the college has put itself squarely on record as an advocate of culture and liberal training as the basis of all really successful post-graduate and professional work: it insists upon rigid schol- arship, and, especially, upon a solid basis for all scholarship: it resists super- ficiality and all artificial, top-heavy systems, which parade themselves under the captions titles invented by modern society. I attribute the very unusually high rank attained by the graduates of Hampden-Sidney in the various pro- fessions to the wise and dignified position of the College in dealing with this matter. Il. Another distinctive feature that deserves a prominent place in this review is the unusually high standard of scholarship maintained by the College. This has won for Hampden-Sidney the respect not only of its alumni, but also, in a large measure, of the intelligent masses throughout the South and East, and indeed, this entire country. After an experience of four years as student, and three years of service as professor, in the College, I can bear testimony to the fact that a feeling of genuine respect and enthusiasm for Hampden-Sidney can be resisted by no one, who, day after day, witnesses the honest, thorough, conscientious, conduct of every department of the School, and the matter-of-course genuine- ness that pervades its work and shapes its policies. III. A third distinctive feature of the College to which attention has often been called, and upon which too much emphasis can not be laid, is the existence of its unexcelled literary societies, A distinguished educator remarked to me the other day that in his honest opinion they are the best in the South. He might have added, I think, that they are unsurpassed in this country. The training of these societies furnishes one of the most important and essential elements in the equipment of the graduates of I-Iampden-Sidney. IY. A fourth element in the strength of the College and the distinctive feature consists in the unusually high social and moral character of its student- body. The vsfvrit dc corps among the students is exceptionally fine, and their gentlemanly conduct, as a body, unsurpassed in my experience. Is it not a high tribute to the institution that it attracts young men of such high tastes and aspi- rations? Again, is it not quite as high a tribute that the College engages and maintains their respect and attachment? In these particulars we heartily suggest this motto for the future: l'vstz'giu nnllu rvfrursimif' 22