University of Tennessee Knoxville - Volunteer Yearbook (Knoxville, TN)

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CHARLES ALBERT WILLSON VICE-DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE Page Twenly-three

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31112 011111ng nf illihrml Aria The College of Liberal Arts, as its name signiiies, is that part of the University which presents, or should present, to its students an oppor- tunity to become acquainted with all the various forms of intellectual activity. This it does through its departments of Languages, ancient and modern, Literature, History, Mathematics, Philosophy and N atur- al Science. It makes no effort to en- compass all knowledge; but it takes the student, as it were to the moun- tain top and points out all the brilliant accomplishments of the generations that have gone before, and indicates the paths of progress that lead to intellectual achievement. It does more than this. It provides the mental equipment which is absolutely necessary to progress ; a knowledge of fundamental facts, the power to think a problem through to a conclusion and the facility of expression. Training in language, the medium by which the activity of one mind is communicated to another, and in Mathematics, the language of science, always will constitute the haek-bone of any Liberal Arts curriculum. These are facts not of our making. Therefore they will endure whatever may be the vicissi- tudes of fortune. One needs only to read the elegant and exact English written by men trained in the English classical schools to appreciate the power which facility in the use of language gives and the satisfaction which comes in following mental process expressed with precision. Mathematics is not excelled, if equalled, by any other subject in its power to compel exact and orderly thinking. That is why it is hard. That is why the young, disorderly mind seeks to avoid it. ONith humble apologies to all fresh- men who do not like the suhjecti. Many a man has mastered a distasteful subject with great profit. This year the College of Liberal Arts went into its new home, Ayres Hall, which has been pronounced by those who know one of the most handsome college buildings in the United States. It was the idea of Thomas Jefferson that the buildings consecrated to the training of youth should be com- mensurate with the great end to be attained. Ayres Hall meets this re- quirement. It is, therefore, with a feeling of great pride and profound responsibility that we take possession of it, hoping that faculty and stu- dents working together may lay deeply and solidly the foundation for future great intellectual achieve- ment. THE RETREAT OF L. A. STUDENTS -JAMES T. PORTER. THE LIBRARY Page Twenty-two

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6112 GnllrggAgrimlturv In 1861 our Federal Congress passed the Merrill Aet establishing State Colleges for the teaching of Agricultural, and mechanic arts,ean act prompted by the realization of the importance of promoting the liberal and practical education of the masses, an act which has had a wider effect upon American education than any other single act. At this time even the basic sciences were taught in a crude manner. With the application of science to Agriculture came countless prob- lems which could not be solved rapidly e- nough. Again, Federal aid came to the res- cue by enacting in 1888 the Hatch Act, pro- viding for the establishment of Agricultural FROM ACROSS THE RIVER Experiment Stations for scientific research in the various fields of agricultural en- deavor. Yearly large numbers of young men were going out from our Ag- ricultural Colleges back to the farms to become the messengers of scientific agriculture and to assume intelligent leadership in all the affairs of country life; but for years there was felt a growing need of workers in the field, that even the people in the remotest places might have brought to them the latest and best agricultural investigation in all its phases. In 1914 there was enacted a hill known as the Smith-Lever Act which provided for an extension depart- ment which would connect the work 011 the farms with our state colleges and experiment stations. Our own College of Agriculture consists of these three divisions, the Ex- periment Station, the Division of Extension and the Division of Instruction, each separate and distinct, yet dependent and cooperative. The Experiment Station with its proficient scientists is earnestly investigating important problems pertaining to the agricultural development of the State, and in consequence determining better methods of agriculture and saving the farmers of the state thousands of dollars. The Division of Extension, through its County Agents in the field and its efficient corps of specialists in the office at the University, is helping to solve the farmers, daily problems, to unite disorganized units and bringlabout rural cooperation and better country life. To the young men who enter the College of Agriculture, instruction is given in the general sciences,e botany, zoology, entomology, chemistry, geology, physics, bacteriology, mathe- matics, history, economies and the languages along with the students of other colleges; for purely agricultural subjectsFagronomy, animal husbandry, dairy- ing, horticulture and agricul- , 7 . i e tural education-wwell equip- ped classrooms and labora- tories are maintained in Mor- gan Hall at the University Farm. The courses offered give liberal culture interpret- ed in terms of country life. The well trained men on the faculty are the peers of men of any similar institution. No better equipped young men go out from any Ag- ricultural College. Yearly there go out from the Col- lege of Agriculture 0f the University 0 f Tennessee young men to the farms to put into practice the knowledge gained and to become community leaders, to schools and colleges as teachers of different phases of agriculture, to community centers as extension workers in various lines, in the field of research as scientific investigators, and to other positions too numerous to mention. --0. A. WTLLSON PASTURE SCENE Page Twcnly-four