866 



SCIENCE 



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



leave everything to his autocracy, the chancel- 

 lor. He is the eonunittee, but one that is as 

 dormant in regard to the College of Applied 

 Science as the trustees themselves are. 



There is another ideal of a university v^hieh 

 Syracuse does not yet seem to have acquired. 

 It is that it is a group of colleges, chiefly 

 professional, each of which has a large degree 

 of autonomy, and its business is not chiefly 

 growth in real estate and in numbers of 

 students, but first and foremost the giving of 

 the best education possible to its under- 

 graduates, by means of the best instructors 

 and the most complete equipment that money 

 can secure, and second, the advancement of 

 knowledge by postgraduate work, fellowships 

 in research, publication of researches, etc. 

 Such a university has a democratic instead 

 ■of an autocratic government, and a board of 

 trustees, who, if they are not active in its 

 afEairs, at least to some extent are in touch 

 with the faculties, giving them sympathetic 

 encouragement. In such a university the 

 alumni of each college are represented in the 

 board of trustees and in the working com- 

 mittees, and they take an active interest in 

 college affairs. 



Syracuse University is not a sectarian in- 

 stitution in the sense that the doctrines of any 

 religious sect are especially taught therein. 

 Nevertheless, it may be properly called a 

 Methodist institution inasmuch as it is com- 

 pletely under the control of the Methodist 

 church and was organized by the Methodists. 



According to the charter there are to be not 

 less than 20, nor more than 60 trustees. The 

 by-laws prescribe that each of eight Methodist 

 conferences, in New York and New Jersey, 

 shall elect four trustees residing within its 

 bounds, which make 32, a majority of 60. 

 This majority insures the Methodist confer- 

 ences having absolute control of the univer- 

 sity whenever they desire to exercise it. Of 

 the 28 remaining trustees one is Chancellor 

 Day, a Methodist minister, and the catalogue 

 shows three other Methodist ministers, two of 

 them, however, deceased. Of these 28 trustees 

 six are alumni trustees, being elected by the 

 alumni association of the university. Two of 



them, however, are salaried officers of the 

 university, namely, the treasurer and the dean 

 of the medical college. 



Let us see how the Methodist church exer- 

 cises its power of conti'ol over the university. 

 It elects the chancellor, whose first qualifica- 

 tion seems to be that he shall be a Methodist 

 minister. This is not for the reason that a 

 minister is any better qualified for such a 

 position than a business or professional man 

 would be, or than a professional educator, but 

 that he may properly represent the Methodist 

 denomination. 



The next qualification seems to be that the 

 chancellor should be a strong man. Recently 

 a trustee, also a Methodist minister, wrote to 

 me and said : " I have long been a trustee and 

 was connected with the university when the 

 persecutions on the part of some ijrofessors 

 led Chancellor Sims to think that he could 

 not stand it any longer and in spite of our 

 persuasion he resigned. He had the sympathy 

 of the trustees in all that struggle and we 

 felt very well satisfied that in Chancellor Day 

 we secured a head to the institution who could 

 not be driven away by hostile professors." In 

 the same letter, while referring to the chancel- 

 lor's demand for my removal by the trustees at 

 their next meeting, he said: "The chancellor 

 was appointed by the trustees as head of the 

 institution, and while I do not know what 

 they will do if the matter comes up, it is my 

 opinion that they will stand by the chancellor 

 and let anybody go who gives him trouble." 



From the above it is evident that the trus- 

 tees do not care to give themselves any 

 trouble with the government of the univer- 

 sity. It is not apparent that any attempt was 

 made to discover the grievances of the pro- 

 fessors against Chancellor Sims, which might 

 have led to the alleged " persecutions." 

 Neither was it a question whether Chancellor 

 Si ma was or was not a good administrator. 

 He had the sympathy of the trustees right or 

 wrong. The same is true of the present chan- 

 cellor. He has been appointed by the trustees 

 as head of the institution, and they will stand 

 by him and let anybody go who gives him 

 trouble, notwithstanding that the trouble may 



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