Princeton University - Bric A Brac Yearbook (Princeton, NJ)

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Wilson. With his inauguration on October 25, 1902 came an era of vitality and pro- gressivism, which was to carry Princeton to the top of the educational ladder. Wilson began the reform with in- internal reorganization. He revised the entire system of studies by restricting elec- tions and developing correlated depart- ments of study, and greater emphasis was placed on independent study. One student, shocked upon receiving a Wilsonian exam- ination, exclaimed, But, professor, this exam is not fair because it requires think- ing! Wilson required that the student s think in undergraduate courses, and he immediately began to eliminate the chronic loafers. The day of sending an underclass- man to take your place at a lecture was ended. A drawing in the Tiger por- trayed the President sitting on the steps of Nassau Hall, with a caption below, Wil- son—that ' s all. Wilson ' s greatest contribution to the educational environment was the introduc- tion of the preceptorial system. The prob- lem of increased enrollment with the corresponding decrease of individualized instruction had long vexed educational leaders. Wilson copied the English tutorial system to a large degree. He brought in a group of excellent young instructors, and each student, upon entering an upperclass department, would be assigned one of the instructors as a preceptor. This man would be the student ' s instructor in all courses which he took in the department. Thus the first preceptors had to be men of con- siderable ability and wide learning, for the range of their teachings was extremely broad. 27

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uate college cause, for he was Patton ' s chief emissary in the campaign. The drive went well for a time, and plans for a school to be built in the quadrangle where McCosh and Dickinson Halls now stand, were drawn up. However, when the silver-tongued ora- tor, William J. Bryan, began to threaten eastern finance, the alumni closed their purses. The campaign fell short of its ob- jective, and the graduate school issue lay inert for another ten years. On October 20, 1896, scholars and representatives from all over the world convened at Princeton. The Sesquicenten- nial Celebration was about to begin. For three days they held forth in Alexander Hall. The nights were enlivened with alumni parades and dinners. On October 22, Grover Cleveland came to Princeton to receive an honorary degree and gave a speech. President Patton then arose and an- nounced that ... what has heretofore been known as the College of New Jersey shall in all future time be known as Prince- ton University. Thus, Princeton did at last achieve in name what in fact it had been for almost two decades. In 1902, a bitter conflict arose be- tween two elements of the trustees over the curriculum. One group favored a cer- tain restriction in the selection of courses which would tend toward specialization. The other element favored continuance of a broad, unorganized manner of selection. President Patton favored the latter posi- tion, and when the majority of trustees backed the specialized plan, a dead-lock developed. Finally, David Jones ap- proached Patton on behalf of the trustees and suggested that he resign. Patton con- sidered the choice for a while and then gave way. The trustees turned at once to the selection of a successor. Their choice this time fell upon a lean, bespectacled, popu- lar professor of jurisprudence, Woodrow 26

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y ' .: ' The Class of ' 05 had a verse in the Faculty Song which went: Here ' s to those preceptor guys Who ' re coming here to make us wise. Too late to thrust ' em down our throats They ' ll make poor Ought-Six the goats. Despite these misgivings, poor Oughty- Six soon found the system was greatly to their liking. The preceptorial system be- came firmly entrenched in the Princeton plan. To provide the funds for this costly innovation, Wilson sought to increase the endowment. Fortunately, the interest and support of the alumni enabled him to reach his goal. The Committee of Fifty and the Graduate Council had recently been organized, and they backed Wilson to the hilt, and a sizable endowment was built up. An outward sign of the increasing wealth of the University was manifested in the buildings going up on the campus. New dormitory followed new dormitory, as ' 79, Patton, Blair, Campbell, and Holder Halls were rapidly completed under Wil- son ' s aegis. Nassau Hall felt the effects of the program, and it was remodeled along its original Georgic lines. The museum pieces were removed from the South wing and the beautiful Faculty Room took form. A group of benefactors contributed money for a new recitation hall to be built in memory of James McCosh. The scientific departments also got new buildings, as Palmer and Guyot Halls were built for their use. An interesting engineering project was taking place in the swamps along Stony Brook. One day Andrew Carnegie, who was riding the P. J. and B. across the brook, remarked to his companion, What a beau- tiful place for a lake— I mean loch. His companion said that this had long been the hope of Princetonians. Mr. Carnegie re- plied, I would like to give Princeton, that Scotch university, a loch. In 1906, the gates on the dam were closed and Lake Carnegie took form. Wilson had met with universal success in his efforts on the curriculum and en- dowment. But when he tried to reform the club system he met with tremendous op- position. Admittedly the club system was bad. Social distinctions had grown more acute, and even club groups were form- ing in the sophomore year. Wilson felt that the system was inimical to the traditional democracy of Princeton. To counteract the system, he proposed that the University be organized on the basis of a group of small colleges. Each college would be a self-con- tained unit, where the students slept, ate, and studied. Students, some faculty, the alumni, and most of the trustees opposed 28