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

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A National Institltiox located in the shrine of Southern tradition. A Center of Patriotism since Colonial times, yet in iependent of state or party politics. A Loyally Christian Institution, yet independent of ecclesiastical control. IXSPIRATIOXAL ASSETS W.iSHiNGTON . ND Lee ' s Inspir. tion.4L Assets are a unique and unpurchasable inheritance. No institution in America can compare with it in the influence of its great names and ennobling associations. George Washington selected it to use his wealth and bear his name. The immortal Lee, having no money to give, gave himself to the institution. Through five years of magnetic and inspiring leadership, he rebuilt and developed his great kinsman ' s college, and set for- ever its ideals of tolerance, courtesy, honor, and patriotism; then, worn out with his incessant labors, he bequeathed to it his sacred dust and his incomparable name. Young men whose characters take shape amid such influences must, from the very air they breathe, grow toward the stature of greatness and learn the nobility of service. NATIONALISM Washington and Lees N. tionalism, therefore, is no surprise. Altho located in the very focus of Southern history and tradition, its campus has become a meeting ground for North, South, East and West, where a universal campus friendliness knows no difference between Democrats and Republicans, Protestants and Catholics, Southerners and Northerners. Of 626 students enrolled in 1919- ' 20, 421 or more than two-thirds, were from outside of Virginia. Three-fourths of the L niversity s endowment and equipment are of National rather than Southern origin; while the extraordinary prominence of its alumni in national affairs bears witness to the national spirit engendered within its halls. PATRIOTISM AND RELIGION Througlii ul il long liistory Washington and Lee ' s campus has been a center of ardent Patriotism and Ev. NGELi( AL Religion. In 1776, two months before the immortal Declaration of July 4th, its Trustees changed its name from . ugusta . cademy to Liberty Hall. Its sons exemplified the spirit of their . lma Mater on the battlefields of the Revolution. Again in 1861 they left the campus in a body as the Liberty Hall olunteers, and shed their blood on a score of battlefields during the dark days of the Civil War. Lately, amid t he horrors of France and Flanders, its thousand representatives in military service and its famous Ambulance Corps have proved worthy of the best traditions of Washington and Lee. A steady stream of ministers and missionaries has borne testimony to the religious atmosphere of the institution, and one of its most zealous alumni associations is maintained in China. INDEPENDENCE AND PROGRESSIVENESS In Independence ami Progressiveness Washington and Lee is unique among Southern institutions. It stands almost alone in its cntin indiinndencc of both church and state. Deepl.v and evangeli- cally Christian in its founders and p (■ id(■Ill . its local environment, and its spirit and traditions, it is governed by a self-perpetuating Board anrl is under no denominational control. Although located in the heart of Virginia and it.self a shrine of Southern tradition, it is entirely independent of Virginia politics or legislative control. Washington and Lee was the first institution in . merica to recognize Journalism as a profession and establish regular courses in this department. The first endowed School of Commerce in the South was established at Washingtcm and Lee with its own faculty, building, library, and reading room. It is also one of the very few Southern institutions which for many years has allowed a student to sub- stitute modern languages and take an A.B. degree without either Greek or Latin. In the freedom of its elective system, its universal compulsory physical training, and its fifteen-unit requirement for entrance, it also follows national rather than Southern customs and standards. 26