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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 957 



they admitted his notable success in every 

 other part. In a few places, as at Oberlin, 

 the increasing of the endowment has been 

 made the business of a special officer; 

 but in nearly all institutions the success of 

 the president is measured to a considerable 

 extent by his results in this specialized 

 form of begging. If the institution is de- 

 pendent on the periodic whims of legisla- 

 tures, certain qualities are needed — those 

 that make the expert lobbyist. If the in- 

 stitution is private, other qualities are 

 needed. In either case, the man who is 

 equal to the task could receive large re- 

 wards for his work in the domain of com- 

 merce — and be judged by his success in 

 this one thing instead of a dozen. 



But this is not all. The social obliga- 

 tions of the office — a sixth group of duties 

 — are real and heavy, and they are becom- 

 ing more exacting every year. Several men 

 who a decade or two ago were regarded as 

 admirable for the presidency of a certain 

 university are now considered impossible 

 because they or their wives are not socially 

 notable, or because they have insufficient 

 income for the extensive entertaining that 

 now seems inseparable from the position. 

 A man might be elected president of a rail- 

 road because of what he himself could do. 

 Not so with the college president. He and 

 his wife are elected. Some men disqualify 

 themselves early in life by falling in love 

 with a woman who could never become the 

 social servant of a university. 



It is part of the president's social duty 

 to keep in close touch with the students, in 

 order that he may contribute to their social 

 education, and incidentally find out what is 

 going on in the institution, to the end that 

 he may wisely administer student affairs. 

 The social duties also pertain to relations 

 with alumni, for the president must seek 

 opportunities of educating them, in order 



that they may help instead of hinder the 

 progress of the university. The president 

 is regarded by visitors from abroad as a 

 social figure head, a public host, on duty 

 the year round. But most important of all 

 in the eyes of the trustees are the social obli- 

 gations resplendent with the possibilities of 

 influencing benefactors. There is no club 

 or committee, no dinner or dance, no tea or 

 reception, no convention or fair, no rally or 

 round-up without its possibilities. The 

 president and his wife could easily spend 

 all their time and energy, and many times 

 their salary, in social functions at their 

 home and abroad, related in definite and 

 promising ways to the satisfaction of the 

 growing needs of the institution. What- 

 ever one may think of all this as a concern 

 of higher education, the social obligations 

 of the president and his wife are real and 

 heavy, and to a large extent, unavoidable. 

 In the seventh place, the president is 

 called upon for every known form of public 

 speaking. The idea prevails that he should 

 be ready to speak at any time, on any sub- 

 ject, to any audience, anywhere; and some 

 men apparently try to live up to the idea. 

 He is expected to deliver eulogies over the 

 bodies of prominent citizens and to make 

 men merry with his after-dinner speeches; 

 he is asked to address the chamber of com- 

 merce and the Browning Club ; he is urged 

 to harangue political mass meetings and to 

 read poems at the dedication of Carnegie 

 libraries; there are traditional obligations 

 to preach sermons and conduct funerals; 

 there are always the demands of teachers' 

 conventions and alumni meetings, of 

 women's clubs and legislative hearings, and 

 others without number. What the next one 

 may be he can not predict. Much of the 

 proposed speaking he can avoid, but there 

 is much that goes with the office. A man 

 who could not speak in public might attain 

 eminence as a physician, engineer, mer- 



