University of Nebraska College of Law - Yearbook (Lincoln, NE)

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THE UNIVERSITY AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM depression and the cutting oi of the Preparatory Department. The students are for the most part mature young men and Women peculiarly earnest in their pursuit of an education, and many of them working their way through college. The ages range from fifteen years to fifty-six years. They are stalwart Nebraskans, with an intermingling of students from twenty-two other states. The University is assuming its rank as the largest trans-Missise sippi University with the exception of the University of Cali- fornia. The students maintain a great variety of college organi- zations ranging from the religious and literary to the athletic field. ORGANIZATION. 1 The University was originally founded by an Act of the Leg- islature which took effect February 15, 1869. The government of the University is vested in a Board of Regents of six members elected by popular vote for terms of six years. The Regents elect the Chancellor, who in the law is called the chief educator of the State. He is the names between the Regents and the Faculty, of which he is a member. The Regents also select the members of the Faculty. The Faculty is ordinarly the legisla- tive body, initiating the purely educational measures of the in- stitution and entrusted with the discipline of the students. REVENUES. The revenues of the University are derived from ra tax of three- eighths of a mill per dollar upon the grand assessment roll of the State and from the income from land leases and sales under the Land Grant Act of Congress. There is also a money grant from the United States. The University is also possessed of cer- tain lands reserved for the endowment of the University. The Legislature of the State that has just adjourned made pro- vision to meet the shrinkage in the income of the University and voted money for the erection of the wing of a new building for the College of Mechanic Arts. It is clearly the determination of the people of Nebraska that the eliiciency of its University shall be maintained unimpaired.

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T8 THE DIGEST Tuition at the University is free eXcept in the Law School and in the aliiliated schools. There is a nominal matriculation fee of five dollars, and a diploma fee. There is a laboratory deposit re- quired for materials used and apparatus injured, in a number of the Departments. Practically the institution opens its doors to all the sons and daughters of the State and to all students wher- ever their homes, without discrimination. The broad and hos- pitable spirit of a genuine University is seen in its foundation and in its endeavors and its work. THE EQUIPMENT OF TI-IE UNIVERSITY. The campus of the University covers four squares in a central location in the City of Lincoln. It is easily accessible from all railway stations. Upon the campus are located the large Uni- versity Hall, the Chemical Laboratory, Grant Memorial Hall, Nebraska Hall, the Electrical Laboratory and Shops, and the large modern Library building. The University farm, con- nected by electric railway with the University, consists of 320 acres of cultivated land. On the farm are the Agricultural- Chemical laboratory, the Farm and Dairy School building, the Pathobiological laboratory, etc. The library of the University consists of the general library anda series of departmental libraries. There are some 33,000 volumes in the general library alone. The laboratories are pro- vided with modern facilities and equipped with the most recent ap p aratus. FACULTY. At the present writing there are 141 professors and instructors, assistants and employes of all kinds. Many of the professors have an international reputation. There is full recognition of the sharp distinction between a professor and a pedagogue or ordinary teacher. The highest ideals are maintained as a stan- -dard by Which the college professor and instructor is a man of special training, prepared to be an investigator as well as a teacher. STUDENTS. t The enrollment of students is increased this year to 1,650, as compared with 1,509 a year ago, and this despite the financial

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kjistorg of the Ciollege of Saw BY PROF. CHARLES A. ROBBINS. .In the fall of 1888, some two dozen young men, who were read- ing law in the oflices of Lincoln lawyers, organized a class for more systematic study and the trial of moot cases. This class met for a few weeks in the law oflices of Lamb, Ricketts Ro Wil- son, over the old Lancaster County Bank, on Tenth street. Soon after the organization of the class the writer accepted an invita- tion to become its leader and instructor. The place of meeting was changed to the rooms of the Lincoln Business College. The class met two evenings in each week. Readings were assigned in some standard text book, and the regular class work was limited to a quiz upon the subject matter of the reading. The work of the class as a whole was not satisfactory. All the advantages of law oflice study, so much vaunted by some law- yers who know nothing of the better methods, were possessed by these young men, supplemented by the regular assignment and discussion of readings, but their average progress was discour- agingly slow and uncertain. Class organization was too lax, recitations were too few, the study of the assigned readings could not be made compulsory. It ought to be said that a num- ber of the young men appeared to apply themselves diligently to the work and made satisfactory progress. With the coming of summer heat the work was suspended. Probably encouraged somewhat by the apparent success of that class, and at the suggestion of Messrs. T. S. Allen and W. F. Schwind, Mr. William Henry Smith, who had lately come to Lin- coln from Philadelphia, organized, in the fall of 1889, a law class which he called Central Law College. Good quarters were se- cured in the Burr block. The printed announcement contained the names of a very long list of lecturers including some of the most prominent lawyers in the state. Some of these gentlemen,