Meredith College - Oak Leaves Yearbook (Raleigh, NC)

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loyal alumna; who speak its claims and foster its interests. The movement just starting to add $300,000 to its assets will lie carried to a successful issue l)y its friends, and gratifying returns from such a notable investment are guaranteed — returns not in coin, but in multiplied and consecrated intelligenc-e. Thomas Meredith himself felt that the proper place for the College was Raleigh. Those who have seen the plant in operation agree that the site is well- nigh ideal. It shares the many advantages belonging to the capital city. Suf- ficiently isolated to secure innnunity from excessive interruiition of class work, there is, at the same time, opportunity for i)articipation in current attractions which, though incidental, contribute to a symmetrical culture. The institution was started wth the high ideal of provitling for young women instruction as complete and of as high a grade as that received liy our young men in the best colleges of the State. This worthy purpose has been maintained from the beginning, each modification of its curriculum being made in the interest of improved scholarship and the elevation of standard. For some time an acad- emy was conducted in connection mth the College. This was necessary in view of the limitations of the high schools supplying students. But these high schools have so far imjiroved in standard and the number of students adeciuately pre- pared for college has so rapidly increased that now only those who can present the credits prescribed by the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges are admitted. The government of the College is largely in the hands of the stutlents. These elect the officers and executive committee of the Student Government Association, who report to the student body and are answerable to it. After several years of thorough testing, it is believed that by such a system of govern- ment a maximum of freedom and training is possible with a minimum of friction and evasion of the laws. A wholesome religious atmosphere pervades the institution. In addition to the daily chapel exercises, students attend Sunday School and church services each Sunday morning in one of the churches of the city. The Y. W. C. A. and the Y. .W. A. have healthy organizations which do much to quicken interest in the voluntary study of the Bible and of missions and contrilnite greatly to the prayer life of the students. The social service committees are active in carrying good cheer where it is needed and appreciated. 24

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ilErebitf) College -Jiesinninss anb JSebelopment Less than a score of years ago, with nothing material in sight, hut vith a subUme faith in God, with an overmastering conviction of duty to the young women of our State and Country as well as to the Kingdom of God, with an unfaltering determination to attempt to meet heroically that oliligation, our leaders started the Baptist Female University, which by a succession of meta- morphoses became Meredith College. The College was appropriately named in honor of Rev. Thomas Meredith, who had such a large share in the organization of the Baptist State Convention. One of the fourteen devoted men who in Greenville, N. C, in 1830, organized that Convention, he was through the remainder of his hfe a firm believer in its mission and a vahant worker in its interest. As editor of The Interpreter, later called the Biblical Recorder, he did much of the work of organizing and correlating the enterprises of the denomination in this State. Wake Forest College was begun in that same decade, and Thomas Meredith was among the foremost of its champions. So ardently did he believe in education that he was not satis- fied to have a college for young men alone, but in 1838 presented to the Conven- tion a report strongly urging the estabhshment of an institution of equal grade for young women. Such a record is worthy of a perpetual memorial and brings a holy benediction on the institution chosen for that honor. Beginning in September, 1899, with scarcely an acre of ground and a single building, Meredith College has expanded from year to year in order to meet the demands of an ever-increasing constituency. The progress has been gradual but unceasing. The ground occupied has been enlarged several times over. One building after another has been added until now there are ten with an aggregate value of $168,500, with equipment worth $42,550. The land on which these buildings stand is valued at $93,000, and the total endowment is now $170,052.09. From these figures it wll be seen that the total assets of the College have reached the sum of $474,102.09. While this is a most remarkable achievement in so brief a time, additional equipment and endowment are needed immediately if Meredith is to measure up to the opportunities which are presented to it. It is fortunate in having 23

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Believing in a broail cultvire, there is, nevertheless, emphasis placed upon the practical training of students. Side by side go the classics and the several branches included in home economics. The ideal in mind in this distribution of courses is to prepare students not only to appreciate the best there is in art and literature and life, but to make a worthv contribution to them. JiEftEDlTM OOLutGt 25 tl!. '