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

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favorable lot-ation. do not spend large sums of money in plant and equipment at the old site. Moreover, the buildings were in a dilapidated eondition. and llamp- lll'll-Sl1lIll'y Ulbllltl no more lllllll' to vtlllllwtl' with prosperous lllSllllllltIllS lllllll il had ll llIlFl'Hl'I1ll'4l its plant, than an army ean hope with the old Hint loek ritle to rope with a rival armed with magazine ritle and maehine gun. l'ushing llall was made over from top to bottom and a badly damaged building was transformed into what a University professor, after eareful iuspeetion. frank- ly pronouneed the best. dormitory in Virginia . Every pieee ol' woodwork in the building was removed, and the unoftieial roster of the institution for eighty years gave plaee to new doors, windows, tloors, wainseoting. and stairs. Steam heat. and aeetylene gas were installed both in t'nshing llall and in Mc-llwaine llall. l'orehes were added at the South entrant-e of eaeh of the four passages. without marring the aneient appearanee of the building. and yet adding vastly to its attraetiveness. Later the Students' t'Iub was renovated aml made attraetive and eomfortable indoors and out. A system of granolithie walks begun in the sunnner of 1008 through the at-tive labors of l'. T. Atkinson, '07, have been greatly extended. and add immensely to the neatness of the eampns as well as to the eonvenienee of students and the eleanliness of the buildings. ln 1008 a small tank loeated in the loft of t'ushing llall supplied that build- ing with water. livery now and then that genial friend of every student and loyal employee of the t'ollegt+ B. S. -proved a little too generous in his opera- tions at the pump house, over-ran the tank. and gave to the Fourth Passage resi- dents an involuntary showerhath. 'l'his tank was removed and a modern 25.000 gallon tank was ereeted just west of Cushing llall. lu 1903 the eommunity was dependent upon wells for its water supply. No eollege residenee possessed a bath- room. Xow every residenee owned hy the l'ollege is fully equipped in bathroom and kitehen to the great reliel' ol' the housekeepers aml the eomfort of the eom- munity in general. Most of the private homes on the llill are also tlI11llly supplied with waiter from the eollege plant. Perhaps the best of all these improvements from the student point of view is the new gymnasium. The old president's house. for long years praetieally empty. seldom swept and never garnished. has been remodeled. The entire basement has been eonereted: a splemlid heating plant. with ample fuel spam-, installed: a large well-lighted dressing room. together with a bathroom liberally supplied with show- erbaths. lavatories. and every modern equipment. have been provided. The Y. M. Pngr Ta rnly-lnur

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That the office to which the generous confidence of the Board had called me was in good old English sense, 'fa cure and not a sinecure was clearly under- stood. Indeed no work that is really worth the doing is easy of accomplishment- or ought so to be. Trusting, therefore, that difficulties might be met and vexing problems solved as they emerged, I endeavored to give to the College through nine years of manhoodfs prime the very best service I could command in head and heart and hand. However much may have been wanting in skill and wisdom, I feel sure that nothing of loyal and devoted effort was omitted by me. Winter and summer I toiled for the upbuilding of the College, and enjoyed but one real vacation dur- ing my term of office. Such strength of body and of mind as I chanced to have has been during these years so interwoven with the life of my Alma Mater that, as the English Queen is reported to have said of Calais, so might I say that when life is ended the words Hampden-Sidney will be found graven upon my heart. It was clearly realized at the outset that the two special tasks that confronted me were corrective and constructive. Unhappily there were old sores not a few that must be deftly handled, a note of optimism must be substituted for an all too prevalent and pernicious pessimism. Grave troubles had marked the past half dozen years of the college history. There were not a few that questioned the possi- bility of overcoming the effects of these unhappy and accumulated experiences. There was no inconsiderable amount of apathy among the friends and Alumni of the institution, coupled with an enormous amount of uncertainty and discourage- ment. The report was widely current that the College was slowly dying, and students hestitated to enter an institution of which these things were being cur- rently reported. People of means were still more reluctant to contribute their money to its rehabilitation. Very much of this was due to a misunderstanding of the real situation, but it is always difficult to fight an enemy who has taken to cover and declines to come out in the open. My first efforts then were directed toward clearing the atmosphere and attempt- ing to create ,a friendly and sympathetic attitude toward the College on the part of the public, and there is good reason to believe that these efforts were successful to a marked degree. Within a few months the college plant was thoroughly overhauled and put in modern and up-to-date condition. This was perhaps the most effective way of silencing the rumors just mentioned. Institutions, like individuals. that are in arficulo morffis, or that are planning to remove to what is regarded as a. more Page Tcuenty three

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1 4 C. A. was assigned a room on the second fioor. and a large Assembly room for the use of our ow11 and visiting athletic teams was provided. though the furniture. ordered twelve months before. had not arrived when I left thc Hill. The remain- ing six rooms in the old building were titted up as a student dormitory with water and other conveniences on each Hoor. The gymnasium was erected on the south side of this building. and was made an integral part of it. The interior measurement of the gymnasium is 90 x 46 ft., with a clear pitch of 20 ft. to the trusses. The gallery which encircles the build- ing provides liberal space for spectators. and enables them to view the games with- out interfering with the players in any way. This gallery is also constructed as an indoor running track. The building has ample light and ventilation by day and two chandeliers give abundant light at night. It was my constant effort to make these improvements serve also as profitable investments, not only in the matter of attracting and holding students, but as a means of turning much needed cash into the treasury-an administrative policy which, though adopted by the Board with many misgivings, worked out to their entire satisfaction. For when the Trustees discovered that this form of invest- ment proved more profitable than any other, long faces and dubious comments gave place to approving words. During my official connection with the College contributions amounting in round numbers to 860,000 in cash were received by the College, and an additional 5B15,000. in solvent pledges came into the hands of the treasurer during that time. Besides all this a large legacy was left the College by a generous-hearted elder of the Virginia Synod. The executor informedime that this legacy will amount to 5F125,000., though the money will not come immediately into the possession of the College. As president, I was definitely informed of a number of other legacies that will come to the College in duepcourse of time. l have no doubt that these bequests constitute some of the direct and fruitful results of the Endowment Cam- paign, which has been recently conducted, and while the immediate outcome of this canvass was somewhat smaller than we had hoped for, the ultimate returns will exceed the largest expectations of the President and Board. On August 1, 1917, the total assets of the College, exclusive of buildings and grounds, amounted to fB218,336. It may not be without interest to indicate the increase in the income of the College during my connection with it. The figures given were officially reported to me by the Treasurer and Curator. Page T enlyf e