Illinois State Normal University - Index Yearbook (Normal, IL)

Page 12 text:

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Ubcllnbcg 7 RETROSPECT A D PROSPECT. 9 V V Y A jill 1111st ye111' 11215 11ee11 1111 eventful 1111e 111 the 1111112115 111' tl1is i11stit11ti1111. It 1 f s11w the 1111e11i11e' of tw11 11ew state llUl'ITlZ1l seh1111ls i11 e111111ties tl111t 111111 l1111g' l1ee11 g'e11e1'1111sly re111'ese11te11 i11 11111' 11w11 el11sses. lxflllly frie1111s 11f the 11111 Sfllfillll fe11re11 th11t it might suffer 1111 eclipse. XYllCl1 the e11ref111ly ch11se11 new f11e11lties 11eg'1111 w111'l1 i11 their lllllfltllll q11111'te1's. The f11ll 1Cl'll1 s11w Z1 falling' off of llClll'ly tw11 1lllllt1I'f?tl lll'Ulll the e11r11ll111e11t ofthe My yef11'111'eyi011s. Since tllttll we h11ye g'11i11e11gr11111111. The ll1lQL'llllllllCL' 11f the present YCZII' by terms 11115 been TEE. TT. H1 per cent 111' the 11t- te1111a11ce 11f c11r1'es1111111li11g' terms l11st B't'lll'. The 11ew seh1111ls 11121116 11ther11e111111111s 11111311 11s. The ll0I'tllCl'll i11- stit11ti1111 t1111l1 11111' h111111re11 presicleiit. it t1111l: lQllC 11ev11te11 he1111 111' 11111' 1ll'ZlC1lL'L' seh1111l. 111111 the 11ec1111111lishe11 11ssist1111t ill 1111cie11t lZlllQ'1.1ZlQ'CS. 1Y11e11eye1' s111111- great lllilll. s11111e L1IlC4'1lll 111'G1Zlt1st11l1C.steps oft the st11g'e.we w111111e1' whether eix'i1iz11ti1111 e1111 siiryiye the loss. Yet s11111el111w the w1i1r111 lllZlI1ilQ'CS t11 get 1111. XYe l11111111' the 1le11111'te11. we CXtlll theii 1'irt11es.we c11111111e1111i1r11te their 11ehie1'e111e11ts. 111111 111611 Q'lI'l,1 11111'se1yes with 1-1-s11111ti1111 flll' tl1e tasks tllllt they have left t11 us. S111 our 111sses llZl.Yt' 1111t been l1ey111111 1'e1111ir. Our g'e11i11l 111111 11el11ve11 111'esi11e11t lllls br1111gl1t i11t1.1 the school C111 ele111e11t 11f c1111sec1'ati1111 t11 1111ty. il si11g'le11ess 11f l1l1l'lHlSL'. Z1 faith i11 11111111111 1111t11re. Z1 b1'e1111th of 11hil11s1111hy. 111111 withal Il 11111111 11f 111111111111 breezy. fresh. i11Vig'11r11ti11g', whose tonic effects Cflll he felt i11 every cl11ss-1'1111111. i11 every t1'11ct 111'

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Ubc ilnocg 9 student activity. Not that these elements were not already in the life of the institution -but they have received a fresh emphasis, the stimulation ofa mighty impulse from a new and original source. There have come. too. Professor Wilkinson. fresh from the practice school of Dr. Rein at Jenaq Mr. Bogardus with his shining morning face and genial pres- ence: Mrs. Gove to beget in us her own rare skill and devotion to song: Miss Blanchard from the University of Michigan with the high ideals and scholarly spirit that for two generations have given tone and purpose to the student life in that great institution. With the new reginzf' has come growth. Growth is not mere increase in bulkg it involves internal change to meet new conditions. ln this sense the growth of an insti- tution is not uniform and continuous. It rather grows like a crustacean that periodically sheds its skin that it may expand in tl1e freedom of a larger life. Whenever an institu- tion comes to regard itself as the best of its kind, and puts in its time compiacentiy viewing its own perfections. growth stops. lt becomes encrusted in its habits of thought and activity. and fails to respond to new demands. Possibly no year in the history of the Normal School has witnessed more radical changes. A new course of study has been adopted. By slow additions of new lines of work the old normal course had swelled, until in some terms students were due in thirty-one regular exercises per week. Little time was left for study or recreation. The student's energies were distracted and dis- sipated by the multiplicity of subjects. In the revised course each student is impera- tively limited to four lines only, and in each of these he will have an exercise every day. The recitation periods have been lengthened twenty per cent. iVith this concentration must come better scholarship. There has come. too, more freedom in the school life.-less pressure. more spon- taneity. Attendance is demanded only in the class-rooms, and at the devotional and general exercises of the noon hour. Spelling has ceased to vex the soul of the student whose sense of uniformity and whose abiding faith in the reign of law are constantly violated by the absurdities of the English tongue. The course has been made flexible