Tulane University - Jambalaya Yearbook (New Orleans, LA)

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made at the Inauguration, IJtli of March, 1901, and with gratifying success. The cere- monies were most impressive, and the speeches were of a high order of merit. The internal . dministration has been equally vigorous. A new curriculum co-ord- inates more perfectly the various courses and introduces a moderate freedom of choice into the upper years. A new adjustment of entrance requirements aligns Tulane with her sisters in the South, while special courses are opened to worthy young men of some maturity and definite purpose, but not quite fitted for the regular classes. Meantime the standards and ideals of the I ' niversity are not to be lowered, but heightened rather. In line with the general policy of popularizing the University tjy rendering it more accessible to the people and making it bulk larger in their consciousness, is the projected erection of dormitories, which shall reduce the cost of living at tlie University and expand greatly the range of its patronage. In this same spirit President Alderman mingles freely in the general life. He acts upon the noble sentiment of Terence: Homo Sum; Ilmnani Nihil a mc Aliciiiiiii f i o. His voice is often heard in public addresses. Thus far he has been chiefly busied in New Orleans, but in the course of the next year he will make a tour of the State and bring Tulane closer than ever before to the hearts and minds of the people at large. It is, and has always been, a chief concern with Dr. Alderman to establish and maintain a lively accord and earnest sympathy among all departments of the University organization, President and Administrators and Faculties and Students. He thinks of the University as of an organism, ail for each and each for all. In its councils he asserts the dominance of reason rather than of will. He is particularly proud of the hearty support of the Faculty, Students, friends and patrons of the institutions he has guided, and he attributes whatever success he has attained thus far to the intelligence and loyalty of his colleagues. President Alderman has received the degrees of D. C. L. from the University of the South (18 ' ' 6), and of LL. D. from Tulane University (1898). He is an honorary memljer of many learned societies, and his influence is especially felt in the National Educational Association, at whose meetings he is a prominent speaker. In every count y of his native State, and widely throughout the .South, for eighteen years the persuasive voice of this great Commoner of Education has been lifted up for wider educational advantages. In literature he is known by his Brikf History oi ' North Carolina, his Life of Wii,i.i. m Hoopkr , and numerous educational pamphlets and addresses. After all, it is not so much achievement as personality, not so much what a man does as what he is, that counts in the final reckoning. The individuality of President Alderman is a striking one. His mien and address are full of grace and dignity and courtliness, suggesting the skilled and masterful diplomat. His acquaintance with both men and things is rich and varied; young ill years, he is old in experience; he has traveled far and wide; he has read extensively, he has seen much, heard much, learned much, endured much; he is clear eyed, keen-eared, alert in every sense and facultv. He is preeminently an komme i ' irffijiirs, an executive, prompt, punctual, efficient, ma.stering details, and swift in the despatch of business. His oratory has a charm of its own, a rare and curious felicity of phrase, fresh, racy, unconventional, always interesting and often captivating. His intercourse with men is marked by uniform suavity, at times relaxing into genial hoiilwiiiic. As might be expected from his rapid career of uninter- rupted success, President Alderman is an optimist of the most cheerful hue, with face and foot always set forward, eagerly, but not impatiently, expectant of the future, and with no great tolerance for Jeremiahs. It would be very strange if the administration of such a man should not mark an era of great development in the history of Tulane University. With one voice New Orleans calls out to him, MACTE VIRTUTE! 10

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edwin Hnderson jnderman EDWIN ANDERSON ALDERMAN was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, at the opening of the Civil War, and is now in the thirty-ninth year of his age. His childhood and early youth were passed in that old colonial town, but in the autumn of 1S76 the earnest part of his life began with his enrolment at Hethel Military Acad- emy, Fauquier Co., Va., founded and directed by a hero of Gettysburg, Maj. Albert Smith, an l at that time in a highly flourishing condition, one of the bulwarks of pride of that renowned Commonwealth, one of those fountains of strength at which she has nurtured, and still nurtures, so many stalwart sons. Here young Alderman was care- fully trained for college, which he entered in the University of his native State, at Chapel Hill, September, 1878, whence he was graduated in June, ls82. The characteristics of the future President showed themselves clearly in the Under graduate. lyei ,- IVell iind liirihs Lehcn. says Ooethc in that wonderful Proemium. Even then the young collegian seized upon the notion of university life in its fullest and broadest sense, and enriched his experience with all forms of its activity. There, too, he asserted his native qualities as a leader, while his genial ' ' camaraderie made him a zealous and conspicuous member of the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity. On graduation, he closed quickly with the great issue of life, hearing and accept- ing promptly his calling to the walks of education. On the path chosen he has never faltered, but has pressed forward steadily and with remarkable rapidity. In |NS5, while still scarcely more than a fle Igling, he was made Superintendent of Schools at Golds- bom, N. C ' ; in 188( he was elected President of the Teachers ' Assembly; in 1889, State Conductor; in 1S9J, Professor of History and Philosophy of I- ' ducation in the Uni- versity of North Carolina; in 18 ' i6, only fourteen years after graduation, he was unani- mously called to the Presidency of that institution, his . lma Mater. This bare outline attests vividly the extraordinary impression made by Professor Alderntan on the minds of his fellow-citizens, who thus vied together in eagerly lifting him on from high to higher. His administration of this weighty trust was eminently successful. The ancient University felt throughout its frame the thrill of a new life. The attemlance rose not- ably, the income was enlarged, the streams of generosity were opened and began to flow towards it, stately buildings were erected, and in everyway the popular approval sought and found expres-iion. More than all else, however, there was born a lively capiil tie mrf s in all ileparttnents of the institution. l- aculty and students were kindled with a com- mon ardor and common faith, and pressed forward confidently as a unit under such inspiring leadership. To the great regret of the whole people of North Carolina, in Ajiril, 1 IH), the .ad- ministrators of the Tulanc Ivducational I ' und, after long and anxious search, found in him a successor to the lamented President, Col. Wm. Preston Jolin ' iton. In October of the same vear he assumed the duties of his new position. His administration has been marked by many laudable ami hopeful innovations. The new breath was felt instantly in the student body. The languishing athletic life was quickened into vehement activity. The Football team closed an unbroken series of victories without a score against it. A new forensic and literary society, the ■ ' oriim. aroused the (• ' (• i ly Biirkr with the spur of rivalry. The establishment of a system of We lnes(lay lectures was an agreeable novelty, profitable both to the students and to the ])ublic, and forms part of a systematic and sustaine l effort to bring the University into closer touch with the people and to make it speak through their mighty trumpet, the press. To the same end, following at the same time a more and more approved precedent, imparting dignity .ind decorum to its public functions and widening the angle which the UniverMty spans in the jiopular eye, the Academic dress has been introduced for all ollicial occasions. The experimciil was

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INTRODUCTION M A ' ING now attained the dignified age of six j ' ears, I look apon ni} ' - self as being mature and full) ' developed. I did not spring Minerva - like full grown from the brain of an} ' one man, but am the result of a careful and pains- taking system of development. The story of my infancy and youtli is the story of much care, much labf)r and much sacrifice on tlie part of the student body of Tulane. An examination of my paj es will con- vince the reader that I aui the result of the best effort made in tliis direction and that the training received in my earlier days has not gone amiss. JAM BALA YA, l ' H)l.