Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 1900)
Conservative. 1 > K. ANIJK15WS' INAUGU11AI. . Iii his iunugural address delivered in the Lincoln auditorium on Saturday morning , September 22 , Dr. Elisha Ben jamin Andrews said in part : Mr.President , Regents of the Univer sity , Colleagues , Students and Friends , Ladies and Gentlemen : In common with all the newcomers present , whether instructors or pupils , I thank those of you who have been here before for the welcome you extend to ua who now appear for the first time. Already dom iciled among you , wo shall soon bo naturalized in the community and have our voto. May the year now opening be richer than any preceding one in all the university's history ! It can be , it should be , I know you all join me in vowing , it shall bo. To be permitted to address you today affords me rare pleasure. For years I have cherished an ambition to become a Nobraskau , laying plans to that end long before I had an expectation of mem bership in this university. "What seemed to me a peculiar solidity of character in the people of the commonwealth power fully attracted me. If the proverbial enchantment of distance possibly helped originate this liking , the liking has been confirmed by all that I have seen during the weeks since I sot foot upon Nebraska soil as a resident. When the foreman of an educational establishment like this begins his work people more or less naturally expect from him some sort of a pronunciamento touching the policy which he would like the institution to pursue , It is impos sible for me to announce any such policy in detail. If I had a now university policy bristling with particulars I should not wish to set it forth publicly , for the reason that , provided it con tained novel matter enough to bo worth enouncing , the publication of it would bo thought to threaten a sudden break in university growth. If I wished radical changes , I should wish to intro- dxice them gradually , producing an evolution , not a revolution. But I say frankly that I harbor no plan for any changes in the university , save those involved in its natural , rapid and heal thy growth. Some things which I think the university ought to hope and strive for will emerge as I proceed , but I have no detailed program. I think so extremely well 'of what others have placed hero for mo that I am quite con tent to let it be , deeming myself happy if I can only add more of the same kind. If any word escaping mo in this address scorn like criticism on things that are or have been , on the doings of any of my predecessors or colleagues , I beg to assure you beforehand that it is not so intended. I am impressed by the honorable and useful history of the university , the very high rank it has won among institutions of its class , the sanity of its organization and the careful methods by which it has beou adminis tered. The builders have built well. I feel a profound sense of indebtedness toward all my predecessors in the chancellorship , including my esteemed colleague who eat in the chair last year , for the wisdom and the unselfishness with which they have wrought. So far as I can discover , nothing has been overlooked , nothing has been misman aged. It would have been impossible for the business of the office to be turned over to a successor in more perfect order than when I took it up. Regarding the charge that American university life is weak in influence of the moral order , the case is far from being so bad as it is often represented. Irreligion in institutions of learning is rarer than formerly , and is decreasing rather than increasing. It is certainly less prevalent in university circles than in other large aggregations of youth , and not more prevalent in state univer sities than in denominational colleges. To read the religious statistics of this university for last year you would think wo were the collegium de propaganda fide for the entire western hemisphere. Explain it how you will , the fact is that the religious element in a community is the part which furnishes most of the university aud college students. More over owing to a happy change in the spirit of science and in the spirit of religion , the schism between those two vital interests at universities as iu the general world of thought is less and less angry as the years pass , science growing devout and religion comprehensive and sweet. What has been said in regard to religion is nearly as true of morality. It must be admitted that forms of im morality flourish in certain universities. This is due , however , not to any cause intrinsically connected with university life , but to dangerous influences of our time in society at largo. The vast for tunes possessed by many families foster aristocratic feeling and other vicious sentiments. When scions of such fami lies enter the university , they not only bring with thorn whatever vices they may already have , but often use the freedom of their new life to nurse those vices into greater vigor. But such man ifestations of evil are local. "With all due allowance for them where they exist , it will still have to be admitted that the main tendencies at work iu the university domain make for morality. The university must be as free from narrowness and partisanship iu its moral attitude as in its presentation of scien tific truth. No one wishes it turned into a Sunday school or into a Salvation army corps. But there are certain moral resources not objectionable to any , on which universities might draw far moro copiously than most have yet drawn. Instruction in ethics could be made more inspiring , practical and concrete. Professorships could bo created for I giving instruction , of course in a purely scientific and non-sectarian way , in Old and New Testament literature that series of ancient tractates rammed with moral life far beyond most else which men have written. Lot each member of the teaching force interest himself personally in the pupils whom he instructs or knows and en courage them to resort to him for advice in affairs of conduct. When they come , as most of them will , do not fear to counsel them in detail about right living , sound habits and solid character those conditions on which so infinitely moro depends than on moro scholarship. The evil sociality complained of is not to be put aside by decrying sociality , but by proper attention to sociality of the right sort. Go-education is fulfilling a great function in producing this. Our studies in sociology are helping to the same result by another path. Oultivato the democratic , by which I mean there- publican , tendencies in every student body so that no sharp separation of social classes shall ever appear therein. We do not want levelling , but we do want the most perfect possible sympathy among human beings , however various ly born into life or circumstanced in lifo. Attention to musio and the fine arts , happily encouraged now in and about all our progressive universities , is valuable both socially and morally. One need not be a virtuoso or a connoisseur in the fine arts to feel the influence of their neighborhood in elevating aud enriching his nature. Critics of university life not seldom sneer at the zeal , now so ardent in most American institutions of learning , for physical education. This enthusiasm for physical training I regard as almost wholly good. Nothing of course can be more ridicu lous than the folly of sr oh students as make gymnastics their main business at the university. If any have come among us with such a purpose let them this very day change it or else buy tickets for home. College sport is good within limits and in its place as a means of physical and mental health and to largo life. In this it is like eating ; we eat to live , we do not live to eat. It is a great mistake to suppose the benefits of physical exercise by students confined to the conservation of their health and mental alertness for the time being. These benefits reach incalculably far and are of most varied value. Systematic bodily exercise in college often cures grave and even congenital ailments. It relieves many complaints which cannot be cured. It wards off physical and mental ills to which per sons of a sedentary life are especially prone. It lengthens the active years and the total years of men and women who are free from specific diseases. It lessens in violence , in frequency and in duration such attacks of illness as befall quite strong people. It puts ease and
