University of Chicago - Cap and Gown Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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A Short History Of the College Of the University Of Chicago THE COLLEGE HAS EXPERIENCED A UNIQUE EDUCA- tional metamorphasis. Throughout its 69-year his- tory, it has experimented with many programs in an attempt to develop a superior undergraduate education. Foremost in its quest for academic ex- cellence has been its attempt to define the nature and function of a liberal education. At its inception, the College contained the germs of some sort of liberal education. The Uni- versity's first president, William Raney Harper, favored a study of the great heritage we have re- ceived from the past. He required students to take a specified number of courses in the study of history, the institutions and the literature of the past. The College originated as a junior col- lege which awarded the Associate of the Arts de' gree after two years, and a senior college which awarded the BA, BS, or PhB tbachelor of phiIOSa ophyt degrees. The junior college curriculum was somewhat Exed. All students studied languages, science, and mathematics; and most were required to study English and history. Minumum and maximum numbers of courses that could be taken from each department were specified. Students took only four courses at a time, because Harper didn't be- lieve they could concentrate on anyr one of them if they had more. Harper thought that heath in- dividual student should he treated separately and when his course of studies completed, he should be given his diploma. . . . The student will receive his diploma not because a certain number of years has passed and a certain day in June has arrived, but because his work is hnished. For this reason, he inaugurated four annual graduations. 23 As administrators were loathe to allow junior college students into senior college courses, the junior college gradually became regarded merely as a span between high school and senior college, when the student could seriously specialize. Harp- er felt a student should know what he wanted to study when he came here. In the early years, students created their own institutions. As the University did not yet have its own athletic Held, they played football for Amos Alonzo Stagg in Washington park. In 1892, U niversity N ems, later to become the Maroon, be- gan publishing. Three years later, the junior class put out the first Cap and Gown. In 1902, Black- friars was formed. The Hrst dean of the College, Harry Pratt jud- son, became Harperis successor. He had envi- sioned a one-year general education college fol- lowed by a three year senior college for specializa- tion; however, his plan was never enacted. Judson placed more emphasis on training for a vocation than had Harper. Agreeing that there must be hno inhexible bar against advancement? he believed it quite possible to attain general culture in a College course course and yet . . . plan a good part of the work that it will lead directly toward a pro- fession already chosen. During his administration there was almost 110 faculty concern for the College. Attendance at College faculty meetings in the two year period following World War I averaged less than 10. The lack of an autonomous College hurt teaching standards. Judson, like Harper, thought research

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COLLEGE ADMINISTRATION Alan Simpson Dean of fhe College George L. Playe Dean of Undergroduafe Sl'udenfs 22

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of prime importance, and so graduate students taught undergraduate courses, and the annual turnover was high. Department heads complained about heavy teaching loads. In the College of the 19203, said Aaron Brum- baugh who became dean of the College under Robert Maynard Hutchins, the many departmen- tal courses offered in the hrst two years were taken in many combinations and produced no common foundation of basic general education. Generally students didnht discuss intellectual matters be- cause they didntt have anything in common to talk about; . . . Class attendance was required and grade points were reduced for unexcused absences. Unexcused absence from chapel automatically resulted in the reduction of academic credit. One student was de- 24 nied graduation priveleges because, out of fear, he refused to dive into the swimming pool, a physical education requirement. It was suggested that the College be dropped altogether. Chauncy S. Boucher, dean of the Col- lege in the late 1920?. explained why the College continued: it provided the departments with an opportunity to select promising research students; it brought in revenue which helped pay for re- search and graduate instruction; and it attracted contributions from its alumni, who were wealthier than graduate school alumni. Ernest DeWitt Burton, Judsonts 1923 successor, wanted to put the College on the South Side of the Midway with its own faculty, budget, dean, buildings, and equipment, and begin with early entrants from their junior year of high school.