1913] The University Presidency 



or the fundamental conceptions of mathematics, or the begin- 

 nings of science, yet half the so-called university students of 

 America are occupied with just such studies. They need good 

 teachers, drillmasters at times, rather than scholars personal 

 association more than freedom of research. 



As matters stand, university professors are subject to two 

 forms of criticism. If a man becomes completely the teacher, it 

 will be said that he lacks university ideals and ambitions; if he 

 devotes himself to research, some one charges that he neglects 

 his students. At the best, half the academic staff is by the very 

 nature of things shut out from "Lehrfreiheit," as half the 

 students are too immature for "Lernfreiheit." To entrust 

 university matters to a college faculty is to curtail university 

 ideals. To entrust college matters to a university faculty may 

 mean neglect of detail in the training of boys for manhood. 



All our universities are still in the process of creation. "An 

 institution is the elongated shadow of a man." The president 

 must furnish the initiative, set the pace, give color to a growing 

 organism. He must consider relative values what expenditures 

 of money will most count in the long run besides ways and 

 means by which the necessary money can be obtained. He must 

 thus be the servant, not the master, of the scholars whose 

 activities he assists or directs. 



So long as no single institution of higher learning in America 

 has its permanent form, so long as its administration is a forward 

 urge, not a function, every college or university must recognize 

 some personal leader. On the whole, the operations of presidents 

 have been marked by wise patience and well-considered action. 

 We cannot do without them yet. 



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