University of Wisconsin Madison - Badger Yearbook (Madison, WI)

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STUDENT ACTIVITY IN IUBILEE service it has rendered to the people. This recognition from outside the State has been an important influence in leading the mass of the people of the State to appreciate their Univer- sity and to increase their pride in it. The jubilee has also had a far-reaching influence in enhancing our reputation abroad, for our guests universally expressed surprise and delight at the superb location of the University, at the extent and excellence of the buildings and equipment, at the size and vigor of the faculty, and at the large number of earnest and enthu- siastic students. Thus the jubilee has been a great benefit to the University in giving to the State an adequate idea of the service the insti- tution 'has performed for it and in extending the reputation of the University abroad. But it is with reference to the future that the jubilee has most deeply impressed rne. Consider for a moment the wisdom and foresight, the faith in the future, of Chancellor Lathrop and his associates who planned University Hall and four other buildings when The Hill was an unbroken wood, when the infant institution had substantially no funds, and when the State had only about one-eighth of its present population and a still smaller fraction of its present wealth! With the achievements of fifty years, yvith the present wealth and population of the State, with the deep-seated determination of the people that the youth of the commonwealth shall have the highest educational opportunities, all before us for consideration, what shall we say of the future? I scarcely dare put into print the vision which arises before me of the University, as it shall be at its centennial, lest it be ridiculed as the fancy of a dreamer. And to picture the University as it will be at its bi-centennial is beyond the imaginative power of this generation. But certainly he who doubts that the Univer- sity of fifty years hence will be immeasurably broader and loftier than the present institution is not worthy to have a part in shaping its policy. He who lacks faith in the future should go to the museum of the Library building to see a little case which half a century ago contained some fifty books, largely public documents, the only possession of the FORM.-XTlON OF ACADEMIC PROCESSION 9

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1.1 15533 -,f ag, . . . r H eg ,ji 1gn1 canoe of the Jub1lee 2,95 to halt from time to time, give thanks and praise for what had been accomplished, and to consider the future. The Hebrews made such a halt once in fifty years and named the time The Year of jubilee. Fifty years ago last Commencement the University gave its degree to two men, the Hrst thus sent out to do service in the world. Last Commencement, following the custom of old, the University paused to review the progress of fifty years and to soberly consider the outlook. Space does not permit a narrative of the development of the University during the half century. Suffice to say that Hfty years ago the instructional force of the University consisted of four members-three professors and one tutor. The students were fifty-six in number. The only building on the ground was North Hall. Last year the instructional force of the Univer- sity numbered two hundred twenty-eight. There were three thousand one hundred fifty students. To provide space for the work required the fullest capacity of sixteen large buildings and a number of small ones. Fifty years ago the entire curriculum was along the traditional lines of the classical college. At the present time the University includes the Colleges of Letters and Science, of Law, of Agriculture, and of Engineering, and the Graduate School, each doing its work upon a broad basis. Thus a large part of the realm of knowledge, but still lacking much of the whole, is covered. The contrast between the conditions of fifty years ago and those of last Commencement is as great as between an infant and a vigorous youth. -N biblical days, and we know not how many millenniurns earlier, it was customary The purposes of the University jubilee were very largely the same as those of the jubilees of old. Only by pausing and contrasting present conditions with those of a half a century since, can we ourselves realize the progress that has been made, the problems that have been solved, and the great debt of gratitude we owe to the far- sighted wisdom and untiring devotion of those who have accomplished the transformation. Ifwe ourselves had not fully appreciated the achieve- ments of the fifty years, much less was this true of the State. Before last year a few only of the people of our commonwealth, who had had some direct or indirect relation to the Univer- sity, understood its scope and aims. All this has been changed by the Jubilee. The words of congratulation and encomium from eminent visitors from tl1e Atlantic to the Pacific, and the official congratulations from the many universities of this and other countries, are evidence of the standing which the University of Wisconsin has attained among other educa- tional institutions of the nation, and of the DOME OF CAPITOL ILLUMINATFD S

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infant State historical society. Now hundreds of thousands of volumes are housed in a magnificent fire-proof building. And all this in fifty years. I u NVisconsin in some ways is educationally a peculiar State. While it has several colleges of liberal arts, it has only one University. Nor does there seem to be any immediate llkelihopd that another University will be here established. Thus our institution must do the Uuniyersity work for the entire State. At the present time there are about two and a half millions of people in the commonwealth. How many millions there will be fifty or one hundred years PRE-JUBILEE BANQUET hence, no man knows, and it is certain that the University of W'isconsin will grow in greater proportion than the population, for as the wealth and prosperity of the State increases, a larger percentage of the youth of the State are enabled to take advantage of its opportunities. Therefore, it seems to me that the chief function of the Jubilee is to warn those who are responsible for the control of the University, to have constructive imaginations large enough to foresee the future, and to plan not with reference to the years just before us, but with refer- ence to the centuries to comeg to plan a University of a breadth and height commensurate with the teeming millions who will occupy this regiong to plan to make the University the great leader of the State both materially and intellectuallyg so that the substances and forces of nature may be wisely handled with reference to the future, that political and social problems may be solved and peace be among us, and finally so that the intellectual and spiritual life of the entire people may be on a higher plane. CHARLES RICHARD VAN HISE. IO