Washington and Lee University - Calyx Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

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University, but his right to exercise the functions of such membership shall depend on his compliance with the rules, regulations, and requirements as to payment of dues, etc., which may be promulgated by the by-laws made by the aforesaid Board of Trustees. Special meetings may be called by the Board of Trustees or by fifty members in writing. A quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting of the corporation shall consist of seven members, until some other number is fixed at an annual meeting, if pro- vided for by a by-law. The President, Secretary, and Treasurer shall be hereafter elected by the Board of Trustees for terms prescribed by the Board, and the Treasurer and the Assistant Treasurer shall execute bond with good security for the faithful dis- charge of their duties upon terms prescribed by the Board; and said officers shall hold office during the pleasure of the trustees. At the annual meeting to be held in June, 1911, there shall be elected seven trustees as successors to the trustees hereinbefore named, one of whom shall be the President of the Washington and Lee University Alumni Association, who shall be elected for the term of one year and annually thereafter, and two of whom shall be elected for one year, two for two years, and two for three years. At each succeeding annual meeting two trustees shall be elected as successors to the trustees whose term shall have expired; and if at any Commencement the corporation fail to elect their successors, they shall continue to hold office until their successors are elected and qualified. For good cause any trustee may be removed at any annual meeting of the corporation. At the annual meetings, the members of the corporation may vote either in person or by proxy executed before one witness and said proxy may be accompanied by instruc- tions in writing which will bind in the use thereof. Witness the following signatures and seals this twenty-second (22d) day of June, 1910. G. D. Letcher [seal] Frank Moore [seal] W. S. Hopkins [seal] The first aim of the officers serving under this charter is to get from the alumni a sufficient Working Fund to enable them to carry on an active campaign to obtain a large endowment for the University. This will be a work of time, of opportunity, and of persistent effort. This working fund should be, and will be, given with the under- standing that conditions may necessitate spending the last dollar of it before successful returns begin to show themselves. On the other hand, it may come to pass that large donations will enable the working fund itself to be devoted to some particular educational use or to be trusted into the general Endowment Fund. No one can, at this time, foresee the event. The essential thing for the alumni to do is to place this working fund in the hands of the trustees under this charter; the work can then go forward. The next aim of the Incorporated Alumni will be two-fold: to obtain funds, first, in order to increase both the personnel and the pay of the present teaching staff of the University; and, second, to realize in practical form more fully than is row possible the

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authorities of this corporation exclusively may deem proper; and may invest or reinvest any funds coming into the ownership of said corporation; and may hold, manage, and control all property coming in said corporation as aforesaid, as hereinafter named trustees or their successors may deem proper, under suitable rules and regulations to be made under the powers conferred by this charter, in o:der to aid the Washington and Lee University in any and all ways that may be deemed proper; and they may adopt any other methods or means authorized by law to advance and further the purpose of said incorporation ard to keep the bond between the Washington and Lee University and her alumni close and continuous. And said hereinafter named trustees or their successors shall be authorized to make such expenditures as may be found necessary or desirable for the wise conduct of their trust. (d) The number of the trustees who are to manage the aflairs of the corporation shall be seven (7), which number may be increased or diminished as hereinafter set out. (e) The names of the tiustees who are to manage the affairs of the corporation for t he first year of its existence and thereafter, until their successors shall have been appointed and qualified subject to the provisions and conditions in this charter set out, are as follows: Henry T. Wickham, Richmond, Virginia. George E. Chamberlain, Portland, Oregon. Robert L. Owen, Muskogee, Oklahoma. William Taylor Thom, Washington, D. C. William A. Glasgow, Jr., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. W. A. MacCorkle, Charleston, West Virginia. Frank A. Nelson, Chattanooga, Tennessee. (f) The corporation is to be of unlimited duration. (g) The amount of real estate to be held shall not exceed five thousand (5,000) acres at any one time in any one county or city. (h) The President of this corporation shall be George E. Chamberlain, of Port- land, Oregon; the Vice-Presidents shall be Robert L. Owen, Muskogee, Oklahoma; Thomas Nelson Page, Washington, District of Columbia; Mortimer N. Wifdom, New Orleans, Louisiana; Bixby Wilhs, of Kansas City, Missouri, and John Alexander Lacy, Washington, District of Columbia; the Secretary shall be William Taylor Thom, of Washington, District of Columbia; the Treasurer shall be Frank A. Nelson, Chatta- nooga, Tennessee; and the Assistant Treasurer shall be R. W. Hynson, Washington, District of Columbia; all of whom are to serve for the first year unless vacancies occur by death or resignation, when their successors are to be elected by the trustees. The members of said corporation are to meet annually at Lexington, Virginia, during the Washington and Lee University Commencement. The trustees shall have the right to make by-laws governing the Board of Trustees and the corporation, and also prescribing the terms of admission to membership. There shall be eligible to membership in this corporation any alumnus of Washington and Lee

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educational legacy left to the school by General Robert E. Lee. 1 hat legacy is in his letter of January 8, 1869, to the Trustees, and in the report of even date transmitted by that letter and drawn up under his inspiration by a committee of the Faculty. General Lee ' s letter, a model of precise statement, is herein given in full: Washington College, Lexington, Va., 8th January, 1869. Gentlemen: I transmit herewith the report on the extension of the Scientific and Practical De- partments of the College, prepared in accordance with the resolution passed at the last meeting of the Board of Trustees. The main points of the plan presented are as follows: 1st. The establishment of new Departments of Agriculture, of Commeice, and of Applied Chemistry ; 2d. A more complete development of the Engineering Schools now in operation, so that to the courses in Civil and Mining Engineering shall be added a distinct course in Mechanical Engineering, to embrace, besides Machinery, the most important branches of Practical Mechanics; 3d. The opening of a farm and workshops in connection with the instruction in Agriculture. Industrial Mechanics, and Practical Chemistry. The new departments proposed (Agriculture, Commerce and Applied Chemistry) are believed to be needed in the present condition of the country. Agriculture is, at present, the most important interest of the Southern people and must continue so for years to come. No effort, therefore, should be spared to advance it, and to extend to it all the advantages which science has bestowed upon manufactures. An agricultural school, where scientific principles and processes may be applied and illustrated, will be of efficient service. Similar schools have been found useful elsewhere, and the absence of any such in our State furnishes an additional argument for its organization. The establishment of a school of Applied Chemistry is to carry out the plan of the Board of Trustees, adopted some time since. In recommending a Commercial School, it is proposed, not merely to give instruction in book-keeping and the forms and details of business, but to teach the principles of Commercial Economy, Trade, and Mercantile Law. Such a school may, with great advantage, be added to the schools of the College, as many students may by its means prepare themselves for business pursuits while obtaining such scientific and literary culture in the other schools as time and opportunity may allow. The additional course in Engineering is necessary, in order to relieve the other courses, and to secure more complete instruction in machinery and the other branches of practical mechanics. It is proposed to establish a workshop in this department, where students may become practically acquainted with the use of tools ard the working of machinery, and thus add practical to theoretical knowledge. The great object of the whole plan is to provide the facilities required by the large class of our young men, who, looking to an early entrance into the practical pursuits of 15