Springfield College - Massasoit Yearbook (Springfield, MA)

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Gymnasium

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The MASSASOIT i: life as created by industrial and city conditions. History occupies a fair proportion of the time of the student, but more time is spent in psychology, sociology, and the like — in the study of present-day conditions. Another development has been the growth in the course in English. Power of expression is fundamental in any form of .Christian leadership. The literary societies, and the courses in English and in literature have developed greatly during the past few years. The course in English literature has greatly expanded. No extended attempt has been made to build up a general library, but on the special subjects taught here at the school, we have an unsurpassed equipment. Not only in the technical subjects of Association literature and physical training, but in Bible study, sociology, psychology, literature and methods of religious work, the Training School has a thoroughly up-to-date collection. The three laboratories in the physical department, which were intro- duced some years ago, have steadily grown. This term there are some fifteen students taking the work in histology, and it is interesting to watch them studying structure under the microscope, each one making his own slides. The courses in hygiene, massage, and physiology of exercise have been considerably developed in recent years. In the gymnastic and athletic department, perhaps the most noticeable development has been increased attention to different forms of athletics, though the gymnastic work has been systematized and graded and developed in many particulars. Another step in progress has been the stiffening of the conditions of admission to the school. There have always been some college graduates among the students. The average age of last year’s entering class was twenty-four years. Most of the men have had a high school training or its equivalent. In recognition of the standing of this institution, upon the endorse- ment of a number of the leading educators in this state, the Massachusetts legislature has recently granted to the Training School the right to confer in the secretarial course the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Humanics (B. H. and M. H.), and in the physical course the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Physical Education (B. P. E. and M. P. E.). These degrees

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The MASSASOIT 19 ♦ will be conferred only upon students who have fulfilled the ordinary re- quirements for college before admission, or who have a college diploma. On the external side, the progress of the Training School has been equally marked. Since the three years’ course was established, the number of students has nearly doubled, the enrollment ranging now from 85 to 95. These men are better prepared than formerly, and come from widely sepa- rated sections of the world. On the financial side, the past few years have been the most en- couraging in the history of the school. Woods Hall, the gift of Mrs. E. S. Woods, of Springfield, was opened for social and dining purposes on the twenty-eighth of last September. This has furnished a center for the social life of the institution. In equipment and appointment, it is a most attractive building. An additional lot, 80 feet front, adjoining the eastern side of the school property, fronting on Alden Street, and running down to the lake shore, has been purchased and will add considerable to the school’s frontage on Massasoit Lake. The total property is now valued at $150,000, and the endowment fund amounts to $55,000 above all debts and obligations. The time has come when this institution, which has maintained its existence in response to public demand for twenty years, should be ade- quately and generously endowed, ft is a difficult task to carry on an edu- cational institution up to modern requirements without endowment funds. This twentieth anniversary ought to be recognized by the starting of a $500,000 fund, which will give permanence to the school and provide for its future support. Another pressing need of the institution is two buildings — one for the library, and the other for recitation and administrative purposes. The library ought to be secured at once, as the valuable collections in Asso- ciation literature and physical training could never be replaced if they were once destroyed. It has been the work of a lifetime to make these collec- tions, and they are worthy of being carefully preserved. These are some of the recent steps in the development of the Training School. A large number of alumni are now at work in thirty different states and provinces and in nine foreign countries. Of the 519 general secretaries of Young Men’s Christian Associations on this continent, one