208 . JONAS SLEVEENSON, 
manly way, without self-depreciation, he gave his reasons for 
hesitation. Dr. Newberry’s emphatic reply was that a man’s 
friends usually understand him better than he does himself. 
The position was accepted and the event proved that his friends 
were right. His administration was marked with such vigor, and 
at the same time with such good judgment in dealing with men 
both inside and outside of the college that he soon became 
known throughout the state. When the State Agricultural Col- 
lege was organized in 1873, he was made president, and pro- 
fessor of geology. 
' The organization of a state college with the agricultural land 
grant as the endowment was a task whose magnitude might well 
appal a thoughtful man. Local colleges dreaded a powerful 
rival; farmers demanded a curriculum suited to their conception 
of agriculture; lovers of the old methods of education feared 
too much of application to everyday matters; ‘‘practical”’ men 
insisted that little attention should be paid to theory, and that 
‘‘practice’”’ should be supreme; politicians saw in the new insti- 
tution an opportunity to strengthen themselves by grants of 
positions; while not a few thought the gift from the national 
government might prove to be another Pandora’s box. But 
happily, the first board of trustees proved to be men of excel- . 
lent common sense; they recognized that the work of organiza- 
tion, if it were to be done well, would have to be done by one 
familiar with educational needs, and that without interference. 
The work was left to President Orton, whose studies of agri- 
cultural conditions, carried on so assiduously for many years, 
supplemented by his work as teacher, professor, and college 
president, had rendered him familiar with the complex problems 
involved. The curriculum was planned, not with a view to 
bringing the greatest number of students at the earliest moment, 
but with a view to the advantage of the state and of higher edu- 
cation. The wisdom of this course was soon manifest, for, 
though the number of students was small during the first year, it 
increased so rapidly, and the scope of the institution was expanded 
so greatly that in 1878 the name was changed to the Ohio State 
