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

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Washington and Lee ' s Unique Riches Washington and Lee was founded as Augusta Academy in 1749. It was the concrete expres- sion of that devotion to reUgion and learning which characterized the Christian settlersof the Valley of Virginia. Two months before the Declaration of Independance. the trustees by a unanimous vote changed its name to Liberty Hall. In 1782. it was formally incorporated as an mdependent Institution under a self-perpetuating board of trustees. In 1798. after long research and delibera- tion. George Washington adopted the Institution, richly endowed it. formally authorized it to bear his name, and dedicated it to the Christian civilization of the Republic of the West. After the wreck of the Civil War. it was completely reorganized by the administrative genius of Robert E. Lee who modernized and doubled its undergraduate departments, established Univer- sity Schools of Law. of Engineering, of Journalism, and of Commerce, to rebuild and advance the civilization of the South, fixed its traditions of courtesy, honor, and broadminded patriotism, converted it into a Twentieth-Century Nursery of Leadership ' fifty years ahead of the age . and then, suddenly called to his reward, bequeathed to its keeping his sacred dust and his incomparable name. Washington had endowed the Institution with his money; General Lee enriched it forever by giving it himself. In its ennobling memories and traditions, no Institution in America can compare with Washington and Lee. Thus its location, its history, its independence, and its great founders, seem forever to set the Institution apart from narrow limitations, low aims, and sordid labors, to serve the things of the spirit, and lift the future leaders of the nation toward the con- secration, public spirit, and public service of Washington and Lee. HER EQUALLY UNIQUE POVERTY It seems incredible that such an Institution, with such a history and such a possible national service, should be crippled by unrelenting and unrelieved lack of financial capital. This had been partially due to the desolation and poverty of the South since General Lee ' s reorganization of the Institution, b ut mainly, perhaps, to the fact that its unique position in the South as a recipient of no taxation funds or church revenues, and dependent entirely upon private philanthropy, is almost entirely unknown. In the whole realm of productive philanthropy and the advancement of Christian civilization there is no such present opportunity for fruitful financial investment as this unique Southern Nursery of Leadership, situated midway between the North and the South. HER INSPIRING HOME TASK In such a situation, and with such an All-Southern and national field of influence, the home task of Washington and Lee is to be totally different form our crowded, local, partisan institutions. It is to cultivate an All-Southern, national, broad-minded and uplifting Campus atmosphere; to so guide, train and develop its home standards and home life that the moral atmosphere of its Campus, the customs and traditions of its students activities, and the love and loyalty and honor and courtesy of all connected with it. may forever remain worthy of the name and character of its immortal founders. HER ALL-SOUTHERN TASK FOR THE FUTURE The outside task of Washington and Lee is threefold: I 1,1 To recruit its Student Body from the finest material of the whole South and. to a lesser degree, from the nation, thus extending its breadth and moulding influence to every part of our Republic, and lifting American civilization above local narrowne.ss. local jealousies, and sectional hatreds. ' 2 I To convert the whole, undivided South to an acceptance of Washington and Lee as its one historic All-Southern Nursery of Leadership, belonging equally to every Southern State, to every religious denomination, and to every American wherever located who desires to honor the memory, perpetuate the ideals, and carry on the life work of such transcendent civic leaders as Washington and Lee. ( 3 1 To accumulate as rapidly as possible the millions of additional equipment and endowment necessary to carry on General Lee ' s life work and to perpetuate his ideals; to admit to its training, prospective leaders from every quarter, whom it is now rejecting for lack of equipment, and to be- come as Washington dreamed and Lee planned, an All-Soi ' Thern Nur.sery of Christian Leadership for the South, for the nation, and for our Western civilization. Twenty-eight

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CALYX 192r HENRY LOUIS SMITH, Ph.D., LL.D. President Twenty-seven

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HENRY DONALD CAMPBELL. Ph.D.. Sc.D. Dean of the University The Limitation of Enrollment at Washington and Lee Owing to the fact that the number of applicants for admission to the Univer- sity during the past few years has been greater than could be adequately taken care of with the present equipment and teaching force, it has been found necessary to limit the number of new students accepted in the College and School of Commerce until such time as the funds of the Institution will justify further expansion. Not- withstanding the limitation of the number of Freshmen admitted, the total enroll- ment has increased from 737 to 853 within five years, on account of the increased percentage of Upperclassmen who return to College. The increase in the percentage of students returning to College is due in part to the efforts to keep the University up to higher scholastic standards; in part to the increasing opportunities open to College graduates; and in part to the advanced Collegiate requirements for admis- sion to professional schools. Applicants for admission to the School of Law of Wash- ington and Lee University, and other standard law schools, must have successfully completed at least two years of Collegiate work. Twenty-nine