Proceedings of the Inauguration 
47 
Christian college may not bear the stamp of any religious body ; 
it may be the college in the heart of the great city ; it may mean 
a school in a secluded spot such as this ; it always will mean an 
institution looking toward life's best relationships with Jesus 
Christ, 
We are inspired today with a larger faith than ever before 
in the possibilities of Denison. We felicitate ourselves upon the 
auspicious opening of this new administration. I am sure we 
take profound satisfaction in the reaffirmation of our faith in 
the importance of the Christian College in the upbuilding of so- 
ciety and in the development of the highest type of the indi- 
vidual man and woman. 
ABSTRACT OF ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT NICHOLS. 
What is a college for? What kind of public service should 
our colleges perform, and how should they go about it ? 
These are questions in which the public just now is a good 
deal interested. Many recent public utterances on the subject 
have been sane, helpful, constructive ; others have been trifling, 
petulant, uninformed. Some criticism, of both sorts, have come 
from the colleges themselves. 
Fifty years ago few people thought of asking questions about 
colleges, and fewer yet took the trouble to reply to them, when 
asked. 
Why is there now so much criticism where formerly there 
was so little? 
In this case public interest and public discussion are signs 
of health rather than of disease. In all public discussions, how- 
ever, we mjust remember that it is mainly the dissatisfied people 
who do most of the talking. 
professors has increased and the college is called upon to enrich 
There was little or no public discussion of our colleges fifty 
or sixty years ago because, in the previous half century, few 
changes had been made, either in the subjects taught or the 
methods or equipment used in teaching them. A college educa- 
tion was then considered a personal privilege and advantage to 
him who got it. Now college education is considered as an asset 
to society and to the state. 
