and decisively. Referring to the presidency of Madison University, he once said in good Yankee language “If I were to give any advice to one who aspires to such a position as I now hold, I would say to him, first of all have grit and a good deal of grace. It is not simply grace that makes a man, but grit and gumption.”*
Dr. Dodge confined his interests and energies to the classroom and University and campus affairs. Though he appeared to be in good health, chronic intestinal disorders deterred him from much travelling and speaking. He was over six feet tall and slender. His gentle and sympathetic smile won affection, yet in moments of excitement and indignation his eyes would flash and his form take on majestic dimensions as he made his pronouncements. One student recalled that, “He seemed to me at times the very herald of Jehovah.” His unpolished and rugged preaching carried a direct freshness and assurance. “The closing of his sledge hammer sentences came upon the audience like a literary spile-driver,” one listener reported.
Dr. Dodge’s relations with the faculty seem to have been entirely harmonious. He maintained that “each officer is sovereign in his own
* Madisonensis (December 17, 1887).