University of Denver - Kynewisbok Yearbook (Denver, CO)

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 5 the cramped and unsuitable quarters at the comer of Fourteenth and Arapahoe Streets to the fine building at University Park. The Iliff School of Theology has been opened, and its beautiful building erected. The Chamberlin Observatory has been built, and the great telescope installed; this has rendered possible the prosecution of original scientific research on a scale never before attempted by the University. An endowment of $100,000 has been received from the late Governor Evans, the steadfast patron and friend of the institution. The School of Law has been established, and has become, in point of amount and thorough- THfc CHANCELLOR'S LIBRARY ness of work, one of the best in the country. The different Schools of the University have been bound more closely together, and a University Council created. Though the Chancellor is at the head of the entire group of Schools, his influence is most felt in the College of Liberal Arts. There his hand is on every detail. The curriculum of the College has been greatly enriched, and the corps of instructors increased, through his efforts. The proportion of candidates for degrees, among the students, is much higher than formerly. A spirit of scholarship, of love of learning for its own sake, has been largely developed. Lectures and addresses by prominent men have become a valuable feature of college life. The students are continually urged to seek after what is best and highest, to

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brother, in a common cause. Pausing a moment, he asked with the sincerity and directness ever characteristic of him: “Will you take me in?” A tumultuous outburst of applause showed that he had won the student-body. In June of the same year he came again, to be formally inducted into office. Before a great assemblage in Trinity Church the keys of the institution were turned over to him by Governor Evans; in response he made one of the finest educational addresses ever delivered in Denver. The ideal of Christian education which then lay in his mind, and which he has succeeded in developing in our University, is best expressed in an extract from his inaugural address: “A Christian education is exactly like a Christian life, the unfoldmcnt of all the powers that exist, and the creation of new powers. And just as the Christian's THt RESIDENCE OF CHANCELLOR M« DoWfcll life is the ideal life. Inrcause not fragmentary, but complete, so a Christian education is the ideal education for the same reason. It will not aim to make mere pious nobodies, nor smart rascals, but to make the education correspond to the ideal of life. The pure heart most surely brings the clear brain. ‘Our education will never be perfect, unless, like the ancient temples, it is lighted at the top.’ Our great name here is not Socrates nor Plato It is the Name that is above every name. That our students shall know Him and the power of His resurrection is our prayer and aim. That they may be like unto Him here, and with Him hereafter is our largest hope for them. During the eight years of the Chancellor s administration notable progress has been made in the University. The College of Liberal Arts has moved front

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26 reject whatever is inconsistent with true manliness and womanliness, and above all to model their lives after that of the Great Teacher. The Chancellor’s influence is by no means confined to the University, but is felt throughout the State. From a recent article in the New York Tribune we clip the following, which shows the esteem in which he is generally held: “ The Denver University, which is largely under the direction of the Methodists, has at its head a man of the most catholic spirit, of rare scholarship and ability; he is making a university that is rendering important and far-reaching service to the whole region. Chancellor McDowell is recognized by even- one as a man among ten thousand, and his institution, which was founded early in the history of the State, is worthy of encouragement and generous support.” He is a member of the State Board of Charities and Corrections, having been appointed by Gov. Mclntire, and re-appointed by Gov. Adams. He is also a member of the State Committee of the Y. M. C. A. These positions are not, however, so much sources of influence, as recognitions of it. Throughout the length and breadth of the Commonwealth his gifts as a public speaker have made him known. He gave at Greeley the first course of University Extension lectures ever delivered in the State. The subject was “The French Revolution.” This course has been also given in Laramie, Wyo., Colorado Springs (twice), and in Denver where it will be repeated this year. His most popular lecture, entitled “To-morrow and the Day After,” has been delivered once a month, on an average, for several years past. It is a powerful plea for a liberal education, and receives the highest encomiums wherever heard. He is in constant demand for occasional addresses, on all sorts of public occasions. It is, however, in sermons and other religious addresses that the high water mark of his oratory is reached. His baccalaureate sermons are always sources of inspiration to the throngs who listen to them. At four annual meetings of the Collegiate Christian Associations of the country, held at Lake Geneva. VVris., he has been engaged to deliver addresses; his re-engagement for the coming summer shows that he has skill in touching and influencing the hearts of the Christian young men and women in the colleges of our land. For three years past articles from his pen, entitled “ In a Library Corner,” have regularly appeared in the columns of the Central Christian Advocate. To the series of l ooks, entitled “The Picket Line of Missions,” he has contributed a sketch of David Livingstone. The students would be pleased 10 see more of his literary productions put into permanent form. That the Chancellor may long continue to fill the office which he now occupies is the earnest wish of hundreds of students into whose lives he has entered.