University of South Dakota - Coyote Yearbook (Vermillion, SD)

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2. ,S l,,,. MAIN BUILDING S The University By Clark jf. l'Y0Illlgv, Dean of the Collage of Arts and SCITUIZCCS. DUCATION, like other functions of. modern society, has been system- Q dll' atized, under the principles of division of labor and specialization, iii? until a point of high efhciency has been reached. It is possibly true 99 7 that the people of our State have not yet come to realize fully that the educational side of our development is most fundamental in the building' of a great commonwealth. lVe have been so busy developing the industrial and commercial phases of our State that we sometimes forget the great im- portance of the educational function. It is possible, therefore, that some people of our State may have overlooked thus far the fact that we are now in the process of building for our commonwealth a great State University. The University stands by right as the head of the educational system and should set the standard of scholarship in science, literature, arts and professional study. The State universities of this country are coming to occupy a unique place

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O'F THE UNIVERSITY C . 'E' x. II ,555 M I -' LI:r:i's 22433 . RIVER VIEW

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U. CHAPEL in our educational system, and their growing importance testifies to the fact that they are appreciated by the people. The prophecy is freely made, by many who are most able to judge, that in the next quarter of a century the State universities will practically occupy the entire field of higher education. In our sister State on the north a significant movement has begun for the cooperation and consolidation of the denominational colleges and the State University. 'Whether or not this plan will be carried to its logical issue and all private or denominational collegec prac- tically merged with the State University remains to be seen. However this may be, tendencies everywhere favor the development of great State universities. It is of more than passing interest, then, to know how far we have gone in the building ot a great university for South Dakota. It has been deemed worth while in a publication of this kind to set forth briefly the present status of our State University and explain somewhat the method of its organization and its plans' of educational procedure. At Commencement of this year, the University will have finished twenty-five years of active existence as an educational institution. Incorporated by the first territorial legislature of Dakota in 1862, the actual construction and organization of the University was not undertaken until 1882. under the initiative of the people of Vermillion and Clay County. The actual work of the University began in the year 1882 when academic instruction was first organized in temporary quarters