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

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follows: President Graham, in a brief speech, accepted the trust, promised as far as in him lay to discharge the duties of his office so as to promote the best interest of the college, to further sound and thorough training, and to maintain the history and traditions of the institution. How far President Graham has been permitted in the six years that have since elapsed to carry out this eminently sane and practical, though not less exacting, program will be shown later on. In the meanwhile let us hear from one particularly well qualified to speak of the needs of the college and of the special fitness of the newly elected president to meet those needs- President W. W. Moore, of Union Theological Seminary. Writing for The Presbyterian of the South soon after Mr. C-raham's election, Dr. Moore says: All the friends of Christian education and especially the alumni and friends and students of the college are to be congratulated on the result of the careful and earnest efforts of the Board of Trustees to secure for the institution a president with just the qualifications needed to conserve the best traditions of the college and maintain its high standard of scholarship and character and lead it on to larger usefulness .... Mr. Graham is a beloved and honored member of a beloved and honored family, being a son of the venerated flatej Dr. James R. Graham, of Winchester, Va .... Born in IS65, he is now just in his early prime and brings to his work all the enthusiasm and vigor of youth and at the same time the sober judgment and poise of mature manhood and the experience and skill in affairs, which are needed for the responsible position to which he has been chosen. Continuing, Dr. Moore says: l-le knows the needs and possibilities of the college, and he brings to the work of relieving the one and realizing the other the most desirable combination of qualities .... That her alumni and her patrons will rejoice in the coming of another energetic and resourceful Christian leader to continue the long and distinguished line of her presidents, and that they will give him hearty and generous support in the great work he has undertaken on behalf of liberal culture and Christian manhood are propositions which do not admit of question. To the old college, congratulations: to the new president, greetings. Thus warmly was President Graham greeted upon the threshold of his office, and thus auspiciously was he inducted into the privileges and responsibilities of that office. But it is not the entrance upon a course, always, that is hard, that really countsg it is rather the continuance in the work once undertaken and the prosecution of ani enterprise to a successful issue. After all, whatever may be said of traditions and equipment, the one as necessary as the other is inspiring, it is not so much what a man may be said to bring to his task, as what he actually puts into it and gets out of it that will in the last analysis determine whether his career is to be accounted a success or a failure. The compliments paid a man upon his election to an office of honor and trust are not to be disparaged and may well be cherished, but the recognition that comes as a result of patient toil, persistent effort, and useful service is even more highly to be prized and coveted. With such a standard of worth, such a test of efficiency before him, the present head of the college may well be gratified at the assurances of approval and commendation he has received from various quarters since he undertook the duties of his new and difficult position. One year after he became president he was honored with the degree of D. D. from Washington and Lee University, and two years later he was given the same degree by 12

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lgrrsihent iq. Efurkm' Csralizun, BB. Fi 4 4:1 N the one hundred and thirty-eight years of its history l-lampden-Sidney had CD twenty-one presidents, sixteen of whom have been ministers of the Presby- nrw terian Church. ln this line of succession are to be found names illustrious and distinguished in the annals of the church and of Christian education. 6 The list includes, among others not less worthy and efhcient, the Princeton Q Smiths-Samuel Stanhope and John Blair, Archibald Alexander. Moses QW Hoge, the elder, Jonathan P. Cushing, Lewis W. Green, M. P. 5 Atkinson and Richard Mcllwaine. The mere mention of these names is QQ significant of the high history of the old college, and of the standard of ideals, character and scholarship that has been maintained within its walls Q now these hundred years and more. To fall heir to such a tradition, therefore-to be called to catch up the mantle of leadership from the shoulders of these fathers in Israel, to be made one more link in so wonder- ful a chain of succession-surely that is a princely legacy, a splendid challenge, a sacred privilege and a mighty responsibility. To the subject of this sketch, the Rev. I-l. Tucker Graham, came such a challenge when on the twelfth of November, l908, he was called by the Board of Trustees to become the president of Hampden-Sidney College: to him was bequeathed the royal legacy embodied in the historic institution of the Revolution, when on the ninth of june, I909, he was formally inducted into that olhce, and had placed in his hands the keys to all the accummulated treasures of the collegeg and from that day forth the privilege has been his of sitting in the seat formerly occupied by l-loge and Alexander and Atkinson and Mcllwaine and the rest, nor less his the responsibility of striving to uphold their ideals and to guide the college to its further destiny of larger and wider service. No mean distinction, this-no ordinary call, and such a responsibility as who shall measure. How Mr. Graham's election to the presidency was received by the friends of the college and the public generally may be seen from these words of the Hampden-Sidney Bulletin for January, l909: The best news which this Bulletin will carry to its readers is the announcement that our Board of Trustees, on November l2, l908, elected Rev. H. Tucker Graham, of Farmville, Va., to the presidency of the college. fprof. W. H. Whiting, In what spirit Mr. Graham accepted this high honor and entered upon the duties of his new oflice may be gathered from the Commencement Bulletin for l909, as 11

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the University of Pittsburgh. Thus the world outside has been delighted to honor a man who has commended himself to its favorable attention by virtue of his high ofhce and his discharge of its duties. But better still, in the sixth year of his administration-a period flatteringly short in connection with the peculiar honor about to be mentioned, but sufficiently long to insure its sincerity and to enhance its value-comes this significant tribute to their president from those in a position to know him best and to appreciate him most, from the students themselves in the person of their chosen representatives, THE KALEIDOSCOPE Staff- comes this tribute, the dedication to Dr. Graham of THE KALEIDOSCOPE for l9l4-l5. To receive such a mark of approval from those over whom one is placed in so intimate and difficult a relation must be regarded as indeed a compliment and a pledge of acceptable and satisfactory service. At a distance the world may applaud and speak kindly words, and such expressions may not be so significant, however pleasant and true, but when they whose fortunes are directly involved, when they who come in close and daily contact with an official are constrained to publish to the world their voluntary verdict of commendation and confidence, surely nothing better could be desired as a commentary on the way in which the tasks have been met and the work has been done. So much for complimentary recognition from without and for sympathetic approval from within. But what are some of the important results that have actually been accomplished for the college in the last five or six years? In answer, we shall let the record speak for itself. The following clear and comprehensive statement of the situation that faced the president when he entered upon the duties of his office six years ago and of the results that have been achieved since then is taken from the Commencement Bulletin for l9I 3, being itself a part of the Presiclent's annual Report there printed: When in the year l908 you called me to the presidency, the college was facing five serious problems which called for prompt solution: QIJ To overcome the agitation and unrest that resulted inevitably from several causes, chief among which was the removal of the Seminary to Richmond: Q21 To put the present 'college plant' in first-class condition with modern equipment and conveniencesg Q31 To get rid of a chronic debt: Q45 To bring our entrance requirements up to the I4-unit standardg Q5 and most difficult of alll To increase our enrollment while increasing the requirements for entrance. I am grateful to report that these problems have been satisfactorily met. Agitation and uncertainty have been laid to rest, and the public, far and near, now clearly realize that the college is past its crisis and is in a healthy and prosperous condition .... Our present plant has been thoroughly overhauled and equipped with steam heat, gas, baths, and all modern conveniences. Granolithic walks have been laid, and water has been introduced into most of the Faculty residences. Other buildings have been renovated and extensive improvment has been made therein. A chronic deficit has been turned into a modest surplus .... and this in spite of the fact that our annual expense budget has been materially increased .... Our entrance requirements have been raised to the national standard of I4 units and our college curriculum has been correspondingly broadened and stiffened. Moreover, while these more rigid requirements have compelld us to decline to admit a number of applicants, we still have been able to increase our enrollment about 20 per cent. 13