Muhlenberg College - Ciarla Yearbook (Allentown, PA)

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■ ' ywyN m ducing the burdensome debt of $75,000 to less than $50,000. He is at present engaged in the collection of funds to liquidate the entire indebtedness before the celebration of the quarter-centennial of the College, with good prospects of final success. The permanency of Muhlenberg College is no longer in question. It has taken root too deeply and firmly to be eradicated. Its influence has made itself felt throughout the State of Pennsylvania and beyond. The 300 alumni, many of whom occupy important positions of honor and trust in Church and State, the more than 200 partial-course stu- dents and the nearly 1000 students who have been for a longer or shorter time in the academic department, attest the magnitude of the work done, the influence exerted and the educational facilities placed within the reach of a large number of young men, who might other- wise not have been able to enjoy the advantages of a collegiate train- ing. Muhlenberg College deserves the hearty support of the large con- stituency of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, the substantial encour- agement of its annually increasing list of alumni and the moral and financial aid of the people of Eastern Pennsylvania who are interested in the higher Christian training of the young men of this age. S. E. O., ’76.

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the unanimous choice of the entire Synod for this position. He had been connected with the Institution from the beginning of its exist- ence, had assisted President Muhlenberg in arranging the course of studies and organizing the internal affairs of the College, and had served in every department, from the academic department on up ; and hence was very well qualified for the position to which he was now called. He assumed the duties of his position on January i, 1886. Immediately afterwards, the affairs of the Institution were reorganized, the course of studies raised to a higher standard and work was begun to materially advance the internal and external interests of the College. In all these matters his efforts were seconded by the other members of the Faculty, the F ' iuancial Agent and the Board of Trustees. The only part of the work of Muhlenberg College that has not been as successful as its most zealous friends desired and had reason to expect, has been the financial part. From the very beginning of the existence of the College the Synod did not give it the support which it deserved. A heavy debt was incurred in the erection of the neces- sary buildings; the financial panic of 1873 an the consequent stagna- tion of business throughout the Lehigh Valley, and the lack of suffi- cient endowment, hindered and retarded the financial prosperity which was hoped for and which the friends of the College had reason to ex- pect. The first years were, necessarily, years of trials and difficulties, self-denials and discou ragements; but in spite of the hindrances in the way, the work went steadily on to final success. The current expenses were met by gifts from Synod and individuals, the endowment fund was gradually increased by smaller and larger gifts, the latter including the Asa Packer bequest and the Mosser-Keck gift of thirty thousand each, so that now Muhlenberg College has property worth $100,000 and an endowment fund of $134,000. Since 1884, the Rev. Charles J. Cooper has been laboring as Financial Agent, and has succeeded be- yond the expectation of the most ardent friends of the College in re- 15

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Class Colors — Orange and Black. Class Cry — Rah! Ray! Ruh! Rah! Ray! Ruh! Muh-len-berg ! Nine-ty-two ! Office S H. B. Richards, President. F. W. Spieker, Vice President. C. Beck, Secretary. H. P. Butz, Treasurer. A. L. Ramer, Historian. Clarence Beck Stone Church, Pa. Oscar Frederick Bernheim, A T Q Wilmington, N. C. Ulysses Grant Bertolet Faygleysville, Pa. Edward Montgomery Beysher, P 1 ' J Philadelphia, Pa. Harvey Peter Butz, A T £2 Breinigsville, Pa. Frederick Doerr Lancaster, Pa. John Richmond Merkel, A T Q Klinesville, Pa. Adam Laubenstein Ramer Virginsville, Pa. Henry Branson Richards, A T Q Reading, Pa. Charles Gerash Spieker Allentown, Pa. Frederick William Spieker Allentown, Pa. Isaac Henry Stetler Mahanoy, Pa. Edwin Henry Trafford Annville, Pa. Paul Stewart Ulrich, A T Q Lebanon, Pa. Leo Wise, A T Q Allentown, Pa. 17