DEPARTMENT REPORTS. 25 



REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT. 



To the HonorabJe State Board of Agriculture: 



Gentlemen : I take pleasure in presenting to you my report as Presi- 

 dent of the college under your charge for the year ending June 30, 1.908. 



The year just' closed was one of substantial progress. A spirit of quiet, 

 earnest effort pervaded the work of both faculty and students through- 

 out the year. Nothing of an unusual character occurred to interfere 

 with the orderly progress and harmonious feeling so necessay to the 

 highest eflSciency of classroom instruction. 



The increase in attendance over the previous year was about twenty 

 per cent. The enrollment for the year fell nine short of fwelye hundred. 

 The graduating class numbered eighty-four, distributed as follows: En- 

 gineering, forty-live; Agriculture, twenty-two; Forestry, three; Women's 

 Course, fourteen. Five advanced degrees were also conferred as follows : 

 to Louis C. Brooks, B. S., '92, the degree of Electrical Engineer ; to 

 William D. Hurd, B. S., '99, the degree of Master of Agriculture ; to 

 Frank F. Rogers, B. S., "83, the degree of Civil Engineer; to Alva T. 

 Stevens, B. S., '93, the degree of Master of Science; to Dr. Edward A. 



A. Grange, the honorary degree of Master of Science. 



The baccalaureate sermon was given this year by the Rev. Ernest 



B. Allen, D. D., pastor of the Washington Street Congregational Church, 

 Toledo, Ohio. Miss Jane Addams, LL. D., of Hull House, Chicago, gave 

 the Commencement address. The exercises were held at ten thirty in 

 the Armory, June 23. 



A very brief and somewhat extemporaneous meeting was held on the 

 site of the new AgTicultural building previous to the Commencement 

 exercises at which the corner stone of the new building was laid. A 

 sealed copper box containing a catalog of the college and a few other 

 documents were placed in the stone which was oflficially laid by the Hon. 

 A. J. Doherty, a member of the State Board. 



On the day preceding Commencement the dedicatory exercises in con- 

 nection with the new Engineering building were held. A platform was 

 erected among the trees in front of the building. Music was furnished 

 by Fischer's orchestra of Kalamazoo and the address was made by Rolla 



C. Carpenter, LL. D., Professor of experimental engineering, Cornell 

 University. This address was of exceptional merit and can be found in 

 the Commencement edition of the M. A. C. Record. 



In recent jears Commencement has been held on Wednesday; the an- 

 nual society reunions and parties on Mondaj' evening. This made it very 

 inconvenient for the Alumni who were anxious to attend both. Mainly 

 for their accommodation the faculty decided that in the future, Com- 

 mencment would be held on Tuesday and the reunions and parties of the 

 Literarv Societies would be held on the evening of the same dav. This 

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