Lebanon Valley College - Quittapahilla Yearbook (Annville, PA)

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Od, Q LEBANON VALLEY COLLEGE- 1914 U ] K 1 .4. um ii Hi I I |i i;i i brick building erected, and the curriculum greatly changed. Gradually the faculty was increased and the courses of study brot up to the stand- ard set by the typical academies of the period. That this new Annville Academy was markedly instrumental in shaping the thot and character of this community is attested by the fact that on its rolls are found tTie names of many of the greatest and most famous men and women of this section of the state. Finally in 1865, upon the decision of the United Brethren denomination to found a school of high grade, the owners of the Academy building offered to donate it as the home of the pro- posed school. This kind offer was thankfully accepted, and accordingly in the spring of 1866 Lebanon Valley College began her remarkable ca- reer. In the following year a new building was erected to the north of the original building. The curriculum adopted was the average one fol- lowed by the small denominational colleges of the time but was hardly equal to the present curriculum of a good second-class high school. The road along which the young institution was forced to travel was hilly and strewn with rocks; but gradually, as the years rolled by, in spite of the jealous opposition of her enemies, in spite of the lack of co-operation on the part of many of those who should have had her best interests at heart, in spite of her location away from centers of population, in spite of the lack of a substantial endowment, old courses were gradually dis- continued and new ones added, the faculty was increased and strength- ened from time to time, the student body grew larger, new equipment was secured, additions made to the libraries, the Engle Conservatory of Music was erected, a large number of efScient men and women of strong characters had been graduated and were serving themselves, their fellows, and their Creator in many walks of life — in brief, the school was in a flourishing condition, when, like a thunder bolt from a clear sky, on Christmas Eve of 1904 a fire of mysterious origin laid the main building in ruins. Altho sorely tried by this terrible ordeal of fire and with cer- tain ruin apparently staring her in the face, our alma mater passed safe- ly thru the crisis of her career. Her friends, pervaded by the progressive spirit of her founders, impelled by their ideals of service, and dominated by the customs appropriate to these ideals, rallied bravely to her support ; and in the short space of a year there sprang into existence our present Administration Building, the Men ' s Dormitory, the Ladies ' Hall, and the Carnegie Library. Page 12 ML I

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ft ) LEBANON VALLEY COLLEGE- 1914 Q ] Processional HE thots and deeds of one generation are bound by indissolu- ble bonds to the thots and deeds of the next. The life of to- day is absolutely dependent upon the life of yesterday, and the life of tomorrow will be just as dependent upon the life of today. The character of each individual, group, nation, or civilization is determined by those of its progenitors, and it in turn will determine the character of its successors. Past, present, and future are simply terms used to designate the different phases of the irresistible ten- dency of institutions when once firmly established to perpetuate them- selves. This law holds true with special force to colleges and universities. A constantly changing current of human life flows incessantly thru the halls of such an institution, faculty and students, ever coming and ever going, who, as they come, are pervaded by the spirit, impelled by the ideals, and dominated by the customs of those who went before and who, as they go, leave the same spirit, ideals and customs to those who are to follow. Thus there develops that continuity of existence which makes one feel that his alma mater is a distinct entity apart from the many dif- ferent personalities who are responsible for her existence. Our own Leb- anon Valley is the same college that opened its doors for the first time in 1867. The same college, and yet how different ! For despite the fact that the real fundamental spirit of an institution must essentially remain for- ever the same, the old order changeth, and every ideal and every cus- tom followed in an effort to attain it, thru the experiences of students and teachers, become stepping stones over which the institution rises, stage by stage, to higher planes of realization. Our alma mater has pass- ed thru many such stages. In 1834 a small private school was conducted in the southern end of a local blacksmith shop. The same year marked the founding of the Annville Academy, which was conducted in a frame building erected especially for that purpose. In a very few years this humble institution became favorably known over a wide territory and secured a very liberal patronage. By 1859 those who controlled it deem- ed it no longer able to meet the demands of the community ; and con sequently in that year the old building was torn down, a large three-story Pafii I I fptti; l3rf S md: Wi: iM . m s M. | ' - a. .M

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-Oxi LEBANON VALLEY COLLEGE- 1914 U f So from the ashes of the old Lebanon Valley there arose, Phoenix- like, a new and greater Lebanon Valley, an institution which grants the palm to no small college in the state. We admit that in athletics we do not rank very high ; but when we consider that our school has always had practically no endowment to carry on even her main work and much less to carry on athletics, beneficial tho they may be, we are perfectly justified in our assumption that a season is a success if the team wins about half of the games. However now that a compulsory athletic fee is collected from every student we feel sure that we shall soon raise the requirements for a successful season and that our teams will measure up just as well to the new requirements as they have to the old, or better. Our literary activities compare well with those of any small college in the state. Com- petent critics tell us that the work done in our literary societies is seldom surpassed. Our Annual Junior Oratorical Contest has given birth to undergraduate productions which are hard to match anywhere. In view of the high standard of the literary work done here it is strange that Leb- anon Valley has not taken a more active part ii; intercollegiate debates and oratorical contests ; but as it is she secured first place in the State Intercollegiate Prohibition Contest three years ago and this year the first debating team in her history would have defeated Juniata if the contest had not been judged by men utterly incompetent for the task. However it is in the work of the class rooms and laboratories that Lebanon Valley has secured her greatest prestige. Our faculty is composed of earnest men and women, all of whom have, not only a wide general knowledge of their respective fields of learning and an intensive knowledge of the particular courses which they are conducting, but also the ability to pre- sent their various courses in such ways that the best possible educational results are obtained. In the wealth of its attainments and the scope of its scholarship, our present faculty — with all due respect to the noble men and women who have served here so well in the past — has never been surpassed in the history of the institution, nor is it equalled by the faculty of any other small college in the state. Our laboratories are large and roomy, taking up the entire north wing of the Administration Building, and are equipped for all the work done in the science courses that are offered. The truth of this is demonstrated by the fact that Johns Hopkins, a school whose severe requirements are almost proverbial, gives advanced standing in its Department of Medicine for some of the A