i6o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



THE UNIVEESITY IN POLITICS 



By Professor T. D. A. COCKERELL 



UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO 



SEEKING to define the functions of a university in a few words, I 

 have thought that we might say : the purpose of a university is to 

 conserve useful truth and to add to it. It should be in some sort the 

 axis of our intellectual and moral growth, whence proceed the flowers 

 and fruits of achievement. This is, of course, claiming a great deal for 

 the institution, but it must be remembered that currents flow both ways, 

 and the so-called product of the university is really the outcome of all 

 human progress. Perhaps a homely illustration may serve our purpose. 

 On pleasant evenings one may see the inhabitants of suburban districts 

 engaged in watering their gardens. Superficially, they seem to hold in 

 their hands useful little machines, from which, by a light pressure of 

 the fingers, they are able to project sprays of water, strong or weak, 

 straight or spreading, at their pleasure. Now we know that the water 

 comes from a great reservoir, and the amateur gardeners have nothing 

 to do with its origin or the force with which it escapes from their pipes, 

 beyond, indeed, contributing their share of the water-rates. Neverthe- 

 less, from the standpoint of practical gardening, a mere deluge of water, 

 unguided in its application, would be worse than useless ; consequently 

 the pipe, the nozzle and the gardener are essential factors for any kind 

 of success. The university would be nothing without the great reservoir 

 of accumulated human knowledge and experience. From this it draws 

 its material and its energy, and yet not altogether so, for its own mem- 

 bers, day by day, contribute intellectual capital. Literally construed, 

 our analogy of the gardener probably breaks down in every case, because 

 there is something creative in all human activity, though it may be, and 

 perhaps usually is, reduced to a negligible quantity. Broadly speaking, 

 however, the resemblance is sufficient for the purposes of argument. 

 The university is, as it were, a nozzle through which flows, under the 

 influence of human volition, the directed and organized output of man's 

 mental activity. In the case of the gardener, very much — in one sense 

 everything — depends upon his judgment, his ability to direct the water 

 where it is needed, and in the best manner. It is even so with us. I 

 have in the definition above not said merely that the university is to 

 conserve truth, but useful truth. An intensely selective process is im- 

 plied, and for this the power of judgment. Thus another definition is 



