Ursinus College - Ruby Yearbook (Collegeville, PA)

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M -f -m, % GEORGE I.ESI.IK OMVVAKE, I’d. I)., Liu. I). President of the College Twenty-three I 9 $ 9 9 $ S 9 $ 9 $ $ 3

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s The President’s Message Till- UK is one word that describes the nim we have for every feature of the work of Crsinus College the word excellence. The ancient Creeks had such a 'word in 'otptrif which, especially in the Homeric age. meant the same thing. What that great word meant in Hellenic life, the word excellence should mean in our life. It should characterize the hopes, the ideals, the aims of every person who thinks and plans with reference to any part of our college work. Further, it should describe the deeds of I rsinus men and 'women. The thing done, be it the preparation of a lesson, a conversation with a friend, a forward pass in football, the eating of a meal, a bow before an audience -any deed whatever, let it be excellent. It profits one immensely to take a word like this as a sort of mental slogan. It ought to be engraven on the walls of one's mind, there to stand out as a mentor, a challenge and a standard every time one sets about to think or to act. How it would save the thinker or the doer from inferiority or even from mediocrity! Excellence keeps one in the realm of superiority, and in this realm we want the Crsinus man, be he student, professor, janitor or president, to live and move and have his being. IIV want everybody to be able to say without reservation or qualification that Crsinus is an excellent college. This means that we must have special tare as to ho'w buildings are planned and built, lurw they are kept and used, how the trees and shrubbery are arranged, lurw the grass is cut. how the farm and dairy products are grown ami delivered to the kitchens, lurw food is prepared and served, lurw the meals are eaten, what degree of health is maintained, lurw time is employed, ho'w mental energy is acquired and used, lurw vivid the imagination, ho'w clear the perception, how inerrant the memory, how dominant the will, how pertinent the questions, ho'w correct the answers, how excellent the teaching, how excellent the learning. Having a care for these and the other things which enter into our common life, we know that that which comprises all. the college, can be rightly described as excellent. In other words, excellence in every reaction, from its germination to its execution, is essential for true excellence in the life of any individual, and excellence in every individual is necessary to excellence in the whole body. See to it, then, that I'rsinus stands for excellence. The word itself is one of the finest in our language. It was employed by the translators of the Bible when they wanted to express the adoration of the psalmist as he contemplated the Deity “() Lord, our Lord, how excellent is 'Thy name in all the earth! . and again, the thought of Paul in the introduction to his great chapter on Charity, “And yet show I unto you a more excellent way.” Excellence is a word of noble lineage, great meaning and elegant usage. Let it become the watchword of Crsinus. (•HOKGIi LlvSMIC ()M VAKli t $ i s 7 wenty-lwo

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 Ursinus College URSI M'S COl.I.KC.K is the direct outgrowth of Freeland Seminary, a school founded in 1848. by the Rev. A braham Hunsicker, for the higher education of young, men. This school continued to flourish for twenty years, during which time more than four thousand young men 'were educated within its walls. In 1868. a body of men. moved by a desire to establish a college of higher learning, met in the city of Philadelphia and resolved to found an institution where the youth of the land can be liberally educated under the benign influence of Christianty. In keeping with this purpose they chose as the name of their college that of one of the great reformers and scholars of the Reformation period. I’RSIS US, of the University of Heidelberg in (ier-many, because in his teachings were embodied the principles and ideals that were to permeate the life and spirit of this new institution. These men set to work at once to obtain a charter, ami an act to incorporate Ursinus College was granted by the Legislature of Pennsylvania on February 5. 1869. 'he corporation was organized in Philadelphia. February U), 1869, and the Board of Directors immediately thereafter purchased the property of Freeland Seminary and opened the doors of Ursinus College for instruction. September 6. 1870. The College continued as an institution for young men until 1881 'when young women were also admitted, and since then Ursinus has taken her place among the co-educational institutions of our country. While the original barter besto'ws upon the College full University rights ami privileges, it is the policy of the institution to pursue its work sir idly within the scope and sphere of a first-class college, leaving the work belo'w the college grade to the preparatory and fitting schools ami that above the college to the universities and graduate schools. Although one of the younger colleges of the state, Ursinus very early adopted the group system of study as a basis of her educational program, and the broad vision that those men had who at that time were shaping the policy of the institution is attested by the fact that today the group system, in more or less modified form, is found in vogue in most of the colleges and universities not only of the state but throughout the entire country. The faculty is composed of men and women who have been trained in the best universities in this country and abroad and are chosen because of their character, scholarship and teaching ability. Ursinus has always maintained a high standard and kept pace with the advancement of higher learning and scientific investigation. 1 he College is democratic in spirit and progressive in her educational policy. Evaluated by the standardizing educational agencies the college ranks A in grade and her graduates have always given a good account of themselves in every field of activity and service. The institution is religious, but non-denominational, Christian, but non-sectarian. Dean W. A. Kmne Twenty-four