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LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 1902
ESTABLISHED IN 1886
E. BENJAMIN ANDREWS, 4 EDUCATOR
Besides which he is Author, Orator, Divine, and Soldier,
and in his Keeping, as Chancellor,
is Entrusted the Destiny of a Great Western University.
When the dust of ages has dimmed
the lustre of successful authorship, E.
Benjamin Andrews, chancellor of Ne
braska university, will still be remem
bered with undiminished regard among
educators. For he has emancipated the
college professor from the role of stilt
ed silence and made it possible for
teachers to be men and women of af
fairs. It is not the first time in the history
of the human race that a man has ac
complished a grand and noble work
simply because he was not afraid of
a little trouble, a little dissension.
Acidulous applications are often neces
sary but woe speedily engulfs the
physician who has not the nerve to
rub .on the, proper medicine, despite the
, wrlthy??, of the .patient.
TFiwnuUie fracas at Bvtwif university,1
. Chancellor Andrews emerged, placid,
undisturbed. The trouble gradually
faded away but there remained a pre
cedent never -to be erased. An edu
cator may have an opinion and with
i force and clearness express it.
Uncompromising sturdiness, a care
ful observation of details, energetic
toil and an overshadowing love for
young men and women are the domi
nant traits In the character of Chancellor-
Andrews.
He is a man who looks upon com
promises with impatience. A policy, a
theory, a principle is either right or
wrong, false or true. Justice and truth
determine his course and there 'is no
middle ground.
And back of it all there' Is a-lurking
suspicion that Chancellor Andrews is
not in the least afraid of r trouble. Di
plomacy and deceit are trails which
cannot be detected in his character.
There is no doubt where he stands on
a proposition. You can find out, too,
by asking questions.
Of course when people cannot tol
erate an adverse opinion they are apt
to become ruffled at Chancellor An
drews. On the other hand he will
never betray the least annoyance at
opposition if he ever feels It. He rea
lizes that folks are very liable to dis
agree with him. And Ih such a "case
he Is apt to forge right ahead leaving
the opponents of his .policy" to follow
at their leisure.
, Twenty-five hundred students at
tend the state university. Between
four and Ave hundred employes are on
the pay roll. There are faculty meet
ings without number and sessions of
the board of regents at stated times,
besides scores of weekly happenings
when the chancellor of the university
must be present.
.Visiting educators from other col
leges drop in for friendly or semi
professional chats. Entertainment
must be afforded in all cases. And
then there is that time honored custom
which takes so much of the chancel
lor's time at the close of the school
year. He isexpected to journey about
the state, make commencement ad
dresses to graduating high school
classes and Invite them to the portals
of the university.
AH these matters make vast Inroads
Into the time of the chancellor. But
there are scores of other duties more
exacting in their nature.
Professors in charge of class rooms
and departments require a great deal
of diplomatic attention. And then, too,
professors are sensitive. Executive
pressure must be applied judiciously
and with extreme care.
Politics are always rampant In some
be mastered. Strict economy is Im
peratively demanded.
There Is something else, too. At
regular Intervals the chancellor must
plunge into the corridors of the legis
lature and extract from politicians and
amateur legislators the necessary reve
nues with which to provide for the In
tellectual wants of the students of the
state. He Is a chancellor, an ideal
man, an exponent of purity In politics.
Yet he must combat the selfish hangers-on
of the average legislature and
win.
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CHANCELLOR E. BENJAMIN ANDREWS.
faculty meetings. Of course not the
base partisan strife common In the
realm of parties but politics of the
subtle, wearying, exasperating sort,
the scheming between rival depart
ments, the petty clash of small ambi
tions. The Ideal chancellor must be shrewd
and discerning, always candid, never
afraid to apply an iron hand with a
velvet touch.
All the details connected with the'
Inner workings of the institution must
The university campus Is a minia
ture democracy. Few rules restrain
the students. The hot headed, the
rash, the misguided call for executive
guidance that can only be furnished
after a careful study of the specific
cases. Class feuds and troubles such
as are exaggerated and heralded
abroad cause misapprehension In the
public mind and call for prompt sup
pression. The chancellor is the autocrat' of the
educational world about him. His
power Is unlimited, his burdens oner
ous. Besides ail this tedious routine
he must keep a little In advance of the
times In the department of learning to
which he formerly devoted his time
and attention.
Probably the most surprising fact
about the chancellor Is his comprehen
sive grasp of details. Students, erring
slightly and at the same time compli
menting themselves that they are un
detected are startled by suddenly re
ceiving an invitation to call. Petty
offenders are reached through those
more directly in charge and never rea
lize that the hand of the executive is
back of it all. Subordinates are also
spurred on at times when the chancel
lor displays an unusual knowledge of
their particular line of work.
"He la a tireless and discriminating
executive, securing the maximum of
action with the minimum of friction.
After the selection of Chancellor An
drews there were graduates and friends
of the institution who declared the
newcomer would make trouble. He
could not grasp the spirt of western
progress, could not understand the
brusque ways of the people of a com
paratively new state. These emana
tions, while created In good faith, were
groundless. Alt of the pessimists who
have taken the trouble to study the
situation would unqualifiedly declare
their first impressions erroneous.
Fads and frills find no favor with
Chancellor Andrews. He does not in
dulge In educational legerdemain or
sham methods to deceive the young
and make them believe he has an open
sesame to budding intellectual fields by
a newly found route. Instead he In
dulges in the good old fashioned prac
tice of closely questioning his pupils,
encouraging mental wrestling matches
as It were between learner and Instruc
tor. In the world of pedagogy there are
too often mushroom educators wor
shiped as intellectual deities by young
and doting minds. They exploit freak
methods by all the devices known to
disreputable advertising. Like the
tawdry attraction at the vaudeville
show they appear behind the educa
tional footlights accompanied by a
crash of music and enveloped in the
false glare of superficiality. Students
bow before instructors of this sort
with all the blind faith of a Buddhist
devotee. They depart disappointed
and forlorn.
Chancellor Andrews cannot be num
bered with even the least suspicious of
these. Breadth of scholarship and
loftiness of ideals have led him to suc
cess. From his pupils he demands
conscientious, faithful work. He ex
pects his professors to labor just as
hard as he does himself.
The chancellor comes of stern New
England ancestry. He was born In
Hillsdale. N. H.. In 1344. Both his
father and grandfather had been Bap-
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