860 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 700 



Stbacuse, N. Y., April 21, 1908. 

 Dean William Kent, 



Syracuse University. 



Dear Sir: Answering your letter of April 20, 

 there is no provision in our charter and by-laws 

 nor is there any precedent for the trial of an 

 officer or professor of the university whose con- 

 nection with the institution it is desired to ter- 

 minate. 



There is no reason for any departure from the 

 usual procedure in your case. Therefore it is 

 certain that the trustees will not establish the 

 precedent which you demand. 



If you do not care to accept the alternative of 

 a resignation, then the report of the committee 

 will be presented to the trustees for their action. 

 The language of the report is: "The executive 

 committee, believing that the interests of the uni- 

 versity require that harmonious relations should 

 exist between the administrative heads of the 

 university and the deans of the several faculties, 

 is of the opinion, in view of the circumstances, 

 that the connection of Dean Kent with the uni- 

 versity should be terminated, and recommends 

 that the matter be presented to the board of 

 trustees at the next annual meeting." 



The resolution was presented by one of the 

 most eminent and judicial members of the com- 

 mittee and adopted imanimously. The provision 

 permitting you to resign was adopted later, en- 

 tirely as an alternative which you might prefer. 



As to the number of trustees required to act 

 in such cases: as the June meeting is never short 

 of the required quorimi, the action will be final 

 and completed at that meeting. 



If the chancellor's " personal feelings " were 

 the only ground of complaint, that were enough. 

 The trustees of this or any other university would 

 not retain a dean objectionable to the head of 

 the institution. That appears in the action al- 

 ready taken. It is not necessary to raise the 

 question' of the impression you have made upon 

 any of the members of the executive committee or 

 our patrons. 



Understand the matter clearly: You are offered 

 the privilege of presenting your resignation if you 

 prefer. If you do not, your removal will be 

 recommended to the trustees by the unanimous 

 action of the meeting of the executive committee, 

 held April 17. You can have no doubt of the 

 decision in the case. 



If you prefer that it take the form of dis- 

 missal, you certainly will have that choice. I 

 have no personal wish as to how you decide the 

 matter. 



As the executive committee has also requested 



me to make the necessary recommendation of your 

 successor, and as I have reported to you the 

 action of the committee concerning you, I con- 

 sider the matter closed, so far as my duty in the 

 case is concerned. 



Very truly yours, 



James R. Day, 



Chanoellor 

 Stbacuse, N. Y., April 21, 1908. 

 Chancellob James E. Day, 

 Syracuse University. 

 Dear Sir: I acknowledge receipt of your favor 

 of 21st inst., containing the report of the ex- 

 ecutive committee. As it does not appear that 

 there is any occasion for haste in the matter, I 

 will defer my decision for the present. 

 Yours truly, 



William Kent, 

 Dean of College of Applied Science 



statement of dean KENT 



According to the charter and by-laws of 

 Syracuse University its government is vested 

 in a board of sixty trustees. The majority, 

 or thirty-two, of them are appointed by cer- 

 tain conferences of the Methodist Church — 

 nearly all of them being Methodist ministers — 

 for terms of six years. The others are 

 mostly business men, or men prominent in 

 finance and in the professions in Syracuse, 

 New York city and other places. All au- 

 thority is vested in them by the charter, but, 

 as a matter of fact, they have practically di- 

 vested themselves of this authority and given 

 it to the chancellor, who not only rules the 

 university, but rules the board of trustees. 

 The trustees meet twice a year only, and it 

 is rarely that more than one half of them 

 are present. The business transacted is 

 purely formal. There are no reports of com- 

 mittees on the separate colleges; there are 

 no reports called for from the deans of the 

 colleges. The trustees know practically noth- 

 ing about the internal working of any of 

 the colleges. Mr. Archbold, the president of 

 the board, is vice-president of the Standard 

 Oil Company and a warm personal friend of 

 the chancellor. 



The L. C. Smith College is a school of 

 engineering, but there is not a single engineer 

 on the board of trustees, and during the past 

 five years not a trustee has ever consulted 

 with the dean on the work of the college. 



