Oberlin College - Hi-O-Hi Yearbook (Oberlin, OH)

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I4 OHERLIN COLLEGE H1-O-HI. secret fraternities have no place, the cordial relation between teach- ers and students which makes cases of discipline about as rare as robins in January, the eschewing of' tobacco, and the standard of scholarship indicated below. Her dominant ideas have been so widely adopted by other colleges that she is rapidly ceasing to be peculiar. That her glories are not all in the past, let the recent inventions and publications of her graduates, the missionary volun- teers, and her present drawing power-bringing more students into Ohio than Harvard brings into Massachnsetts-testify. The college now provides three courses of study-the Classical, the Philosophical, and the Literary which receives no degree. In the Fall of '91 the Philosophical Course will be made equal in quantity of work with the Classical, and a Scientific Course of equal length will be unfolded. For admission to any of these courses four years of study will be required. These requirements are equal to those of' any American university, and distinctly in advance ofthose ofmost institutions. especially for the Scientific Course. In the three full courses-Classical, Philosophical and Scientific -prescribed studies occupy the entire Freshman year, and one-third of the time during the three remaining years. It is thus rendered certain that every student will make definite attainments in essen- tial branches, and at the same time enjoy ample electives, as is shown in the following table of In the several departments of' study: msg. ELECT. REQ. ELIQCT Mathematics ......................... 126 320 126 320 1 26 388 Physics and Astronomy ........ 11 6 164- 11 6 58 24-8 168 Chemistry and Mineralogy... 68 242 68 24-2 190 24-2 Natural History ......,............ 58 202 58 202 24-8 202 Greek and Latin ................... 304- 11 09 252 54-1 190 German, French and English 1-1-4- 916 332 916 916 HOURS OF INSTRUCTION OFFERED I REQ. txcnncr. CLASSICAL. PIIILOSOPIIICAL. SCIENTIFIC Rhetoric and Elocution ......... 334- 58 334- 58 334- ...... Philosophy ............................ 154- 24-8 154- 24-8 154- 24-8 Political Science ............ ..... ...... 2 - L2 ...... 24-2 ...... 24-2 History ............... ............... 5 8 136 58 136 58 136 Music and Art .........,............. ...... 2 08 ...... 208 ...... ...... The Literary Course stands by itself. It has seemed important to the faculty and trustees to provide a course which should be well arranged and atTord work ofthe best quality for those students who hesitate to begin one of the full courses on account of the length of time required for its completion. They have, therefore, arranged hereafter to give a two years' diploma to all students who have performed the work required for admission to college in either the classical, the philosophical or the scientific course, and who complete two years of' college work, including the following sub-courses: Chfiemistry I., Logic, Botany I., Psychology I., History III., and Et lies. It is only necessary here to mention the Theological Seminary with its one hundred and six students, the Conservatory of Music and the great preparatory schools, which help to make Oberlin big as well as great, and add to the general attractions of' the college. All in all, the Oberlin idea is applied Christianity, and is well ex- pressed by a line from one of Wesley's hymns: To serve the present age.

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OBERLIN COLLEGE H1-O-Hi. 13 THE OBERLI IDEA. BY PROFESSOR WM. G. FROST. Great colleges are seldom of mushroom growth. Giant branches and swelling terminal buds imply depth of root. Oberlin is rooted in an historic soil which contains many boulders of sturdy principle, as well as many springs of pure moral purpose. Distinetively Christian, although non-sectarian and free from all denominational control, she has been called to pioneer work in several directions. It was in 1832 that Father Shipherd, with S33 in his pocket, started for New England to secure the land, the build- ings, the citizens, the students, the endowments and the faculty! In less than a year the school opened with forty-fourstudents gathered from seven states. In 1835 the duty of opening the school to colored students was presented, and by .the casting vote of john Keep, the college took her position in favor of the oppressed. It was expected that the town would be flooded with Negroes, and when a solitary African put in his appearance some months later, the little son of one ofthe trustees rushed into the house exclaiming, Mother, they are coming. The school has seldom contained more than four per cent. of' colored students, but the servieerendered to the colored race was immeasurable, while the'obliquy and hatred encountered was something which can hardly be conceived of to- day. Oberlin still suffers somewhat in repute, among those who are uninformed, from the prejudices engendered by her boldness in the cause of reform. Following the stand for equal rights for all came the arrival of Professor Finney, with his new school theological tenet, that Ability measures obligation. His preaching upset some of the traditions of men, and increased the opposition to Oberlin, but it roused the churches, and made friends as well as enemies. At this time also, the students from Lane Theological Seminary, forbidden to discuss -slavery, came to Oberlin almost in a body, and set up a theological department in Slab Hall. The institution was started upon the broadest and most liberal basis, and when, in due time, young women applied for admission to the classical course, they were received without either hesitation for the blowing of trumpets. The first women in America to receive academic degrees were three Oberlin graduates in 1841. The young women at Oberlin, however, are not treated as if they were men, but for all purposes of discipline are under the supervision of a Womau's Board. Oberlin is further characterized by the absence of all prizes and artificial distinctions-merit is its own reward, the encouragement .of self-supporting students, the merit of her literary societies-

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