THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 319 



spent merely or largely to glorify the administration as a notable 

 " building era " in the life of the university, it would seem that the 

 foundations of an argument were laid for giving the men who have the 

 work of teaching and research in charge, a much larger share in deter- 

 mining such matters. 



These things, however, are of minor importance compared with the 

 way in which the present system works out, too often, in practise, as 

 affecting the very delicate and important but now remote relations 

 between the faculties and their governing board. So long as these rela- 

 tions are chiefly — not to say wholly — through any one man, there are 

 almost sure to be misunderstandings, heartburnings over real or fancied 

 wrongs, jealousies and suspicion of favoritism and of intrigues, even if 

 this one man is equipped with an inconceivable breadth of culture and of 

 variegated scholastic interests, mingled in due proportions with the 

 wisdom of a Solomon, the self-sacrifice of an apostle, and the temper of 

 an angel. A few university presidents have had naturally, or have 

 acquired, enough of this adorable mixture to pass courageously and 

 patiently through years in so trying a position, and at the last to 

 emerge with a large measure of respect and some measure of affection 

 from their colleagues in the different faculties. But there are not a 

 few other cases where great and irreparable injustice has been done to 

 individuals and no small mischief to the university through lack of an 

 appointed means of securing trustworthy communication between the 

 governing board and the faculties under their control, irrespective of 

 the representations and the control of the president. If the inside 

 history of the mistakes made and the wrongs committed in this way 

 were fully written — and it is probably not desirable that it should be 

 and quite certain that it never will be written — it would be spotted with 

 scandals of the most astonishing character. For example, several years 

 ago a distinguished professor in one of our larger universities, who had 

 given the greater part of his life to its devoted and efficient service, was 

 as a part of the business of a single meeting of the trustees dismissed 

 without further trial from his place ; and after the action was taken and 

 inquiry was made as to its grounds, not one of the trustees could be 

 found who was willing to assume any responsibility or to state the 

 grounds on which the action had been taken; or indeed, whether the 

 letter written by the president to the professor fairly and truthfully 

 represented the intention of the trustees. Subsequently, a number 

 explicitly, and all implicitly, admitted that they had been deceived by 

 the president. 



From the point of view which regards its morally deteriorating influ- 

 ence on the faculties, the present arrangement is equally unsatisfactory. 

 The men of standing in the world of science and scholarship, and of a 

 high sense of honor, will not willingly resort to the trustees, either as 

 individuals or as a body, unless they are officially authorized or requested 



