Swarthmore College - Halcyon Yearbook (Swarthmore, PA)

Page 22 text:

THE mic THE COLLEGE s: p i -: ;i; i wa? Si5 ?-«fe Page Fourteen

Page 21 text:

THE COLLEGE The Present College Year HIS year, while not marked by much material advance, is no exception to the fact that each year finds Swarthmore more fully equipped to give to students in college better education under better conditions than ever before. The laboratories and libraries have had substantial additions in apparatus and books. A nevy walk has been built from the station to Whar- ton Hall. A new water lilter has been erected, so that not only the Springfield water supply, but the water from our own plant, is wholesome for all purposes, including drinking. The farmhouse has been refitted and transformed into a neat, comfortable, small infirmary. This is one of the additions that we wish we might never have use for, but experience has taught us that it is wise to be prepared to take care of contagious disease. A small tract of land on the north of the college ground has been purchased to straighten that boundary. The smoke nuisance, caused by the use of soft coal at the heating and lighting plant, has been removed by changing the equipment in the powerhouse and the use of hard coal. Two bequests have been made to the college during the past year: One of $5,000 from the late William C. Smith, of Saratoga Springs, New York; and one of $500 from the late Mary Lewis, of Media, Pennsylvania. A new athletic field has been located east of Chester Road and west of College Avenue, and $10,000 have been subscribed toward the erection of a grandstand, grading, filling, and other necessary improvements. The continued raising of standards, both for admission and work in college, is evi- dent. The mid-term reports of the first semester indicate that both preparation for entrance and the grade of work done during the term are of a higher order. We have at this time a larger list of applicants for future years than ever before. The alumni and others are now having the names of their children placed on the ap- plication list at a very early age, and often many years before they are ready for col- lege. The parents of one family recently entered five children. Such a condition is hopeful in securing standards of character and scholarship. The college grows stronger in its facidty each year, by the retention of growing men and women of the faculty, and by adding younger teachers of a similar type. We have to record, however, a loss during the past year, through the retirement of Dr. George A. Hoadley, who has been a tower of strength to Swarthmore for many years. Dr. Harvey Cornelius Hayes, of the Harvard faculty, has been appointed to the Chair of Physics. One of the incidents connected with the retirement of Doctor Hoadley is the trans- fer of the Department of Electrical Engineering from the Department of Physics to that of Engineering, in charge of Dr. George F. Blessing; Civil, Mechanical, and Electri- cal Engineering are now under his direction. Dr. William I. Hull, Professor of History and International Relations, was given sabbatical leave of absence during the present year. The policy of giving teachers such leave of absence is manifesting itself in the larger usefulness of the teaching force. It is a compliment both to Swarthmore and to Dr. Benjamin F. Battin, Professor of German, that he has, with the consent of the Managers of Swarthmore, accepted a call from the Carnegie Church Foundation, to spend this year in Europe in the interests of International Peace. The student life is growing more wholesome from year to year. Several customs have been modified or abolished. The contest between the Freshmen and Sophomores, Page Thirteen

Page 23 text:

THE COLLEGE due to the Freshmen endeavoring to secure a class picture, and an equally strenuous en- deavor of the Sophomores to prevent it, has been abolished by the students themselves. Several other regulations made by the students indicate an increased responsibilit} ' on the part of the students and better organized student action, and show decided results for the beneht of all concerned. The more nearly a college community becomes a pure democracy, with teachers as older brothers and sisters of more experience and knowledge simply leading the way, the better it is for the students of the college. The 3 ' ear has witnessed the retirement, at his own request, of Isaac H. Clothier, as President of the Board of Managers, and the election to this position of Robert M. Janney. Isaac H. Clothier will remain on the Board and continue to give to it his in- valuable services. Robert M. Janney in recent years has been closely identified vi-ith all the work of the Board, under the leadership of Mr. Clothier, and Mr. Janney is to have the counsel and support of the former President in all that pertains to the welfare of the college. We have had several distinguished guests to speak at the college during the pres- ent year. Among them are the following: James Allen Baker, M.P., of London, Eng- land; Dr. James Alexander MacDonald, Editor of the Toronto Globe, Toronto, Canada; and Dr. David Starr Jordan, Chancellor of Stanford University, California. We have the promise of an address from John Wanamaker, of Philadelphia, at some time during the present year; and ex-President Taft has promised to deliver the Commencement address in June, 1915. The long list of publications and addresses by the faculty of Swarthmore shows the large, demand for their services by the general public, and a commendable growth and activity in research and scholastic achievement. A Committee of the Board has been appointed to secure plans for the building of the third and last section of Wharton Hall. Joseph Wharton left by bequest a sum of money to finish this building. If prices had not been higher than when the first section was built, and nothing had been deducted for an inheritance tax, the $50,000 left for this purpose would have been sufficient. As prices, however, are higher than when the second section was built, and as $5,000 was deducted from the total amount of the be- quest for inheritance tax, it became necessary to wait until the remaining sum had ac- cumulated sufficient interest to complete the building. Bids are now being secured, and if the funds are found to be adequate it is hoped to have the building completed in the fall of 1916. It vyas announced, last Commencement, that the college had received $63,000, the donor for the present being anonymous. This sum is to be used in the erection of a building. The Board has decided to erect a building for Physics and Engineering with this fund, and to place the Department of Zoology in the present Science building. It is hoped that the new building may be erected at an early date. The aim of Swarthmore is to make here a small college, limited to 500 students, of not more than 250 of either sex. It is the aim, by better equipment, better teachers, bet- ter prepared and selected students, to make here each year a better place for young- men and women to grow in knowledge and power. The highest conception of the col- lege is expressed in its motto, Mind the Light. This motto calls upon the students to be faithful, from this day forth to the end of time, to the highest conception of duty which their knowledge and experience and spiritual insight may reveal to them. It is their light which must illumine their path- way, which comes to them through every agency, human and divine, and which their footsteps would follow if they would gain the reward of the faithful sons and daugh- ters of men. That they may, in the province of God, be guided by this light in all the struggles of life, and that they may do their work in their own way, with joy in their hearts and songs on their lips, is the hope and prayer of their well-wisher. Page Fifteen