Tag Archives: Electives

p. 225 – Colgate in the 1890’s

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mained the fundamental objective but a broader approach can be detected in James C. Colgate’s remarks at the dedication of the Library in 1891. He said:

It always seems to me to be a lack of faith rather than indication of reverence when people are afraid to have their beliefs examined in the broad light of day. A university should be a source of light. While we make no boast yet we believe that the principles for which this university stands . . . need never fear the white light of keenest criticism.

Five years later he explained to students that the chief aim of a college course was “culture” which he defined as a “passion for knowledge”combined with the ability to use knowledge intelligently. The educated man should be able “to reason rightly, to judge correctly, to perceive the beautiful and recognize the true.” In making his point, however, he did not overlook morality as the source for proper conduct and for sound religion. The college provided conditions congenial for the growth of culture, he asserted, but the responsibility for its attainment rested with the individual student. His advice to those unable to benefit from a college experience was, “Go to work, or, if you must go to college, go anywhere but here.”

Mr. Colgate’s statements suggest to some degree the extensive re-examination and revision which the faculty, spurred on by the younger members such as Terry and Brigham, were ‘giving to the entire educational structure. Fewer freshmen were admitted with conditional credits for uncompleted work and admission requirements in the ancient languages were lowered. The grading system and absence regulations were revised. The major changes, however, were to be found in the reduction of the amount of Greek and Latin required and the expansion of elective choices. From 1890 to 1893 there were five courses of study; that for the Bachelor of Arts degree followed the traditional pattern in stressing Greek and Latin; the two courses for the Bachelor of Philosophy gave a choice of Greek or Latin and required French and German; of the two for the Bachelor of Science one required Latin and German and one only German. In 1893 the five courses of study were consolidated into three-A.B., Ph.B., and B.S. with the requirements substantially unchanged except that the candidates for the last took French and German.

After 1896 all the work of the senior year was elective. The student was encouraged, however, to select courses which had some relation-

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Posted in Chapter 11, Colgate in the 1890's, p. 225

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Introduction of electives (p. 189)

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fervent and healthful piety is directly encouraged.”

Dean Andrews maintained in 1872 that every teacher, no matter what his subject or how great his erudition, should communicate to his class morality and ethical judgments. At the Convocation of the University of the State of New York in 1886, President Dodge, in defending the philosophy of liberal education versus the utilitarian approach, held that the true test of a college subject was not whether it would help one make money but whether it would develop manhood. Especially valuable were the languages, literature, and civilization of the Greeks and Romans. He would not exclude other subjects,however, and stressed the importance of cross-fertilization for increasing knowledge. Fearful perhaps of a drift from the old moorings, James B. Colgate, in 1889, at the cornerstone-laying for the Library, took occasion to reiterate his view that “When intellectual distinction and not Christian character becomes the highest object to be obtained, Universities become, by their stimulus to worldly ambition, centers of pride and error.”

To give flexibility to the curriculum, the faculty had from time to time arranged for abridged courses of study for older students who wanted to begin their preaching careers with the minimum preparation. In the 1850’s a shorter “Scientific Course”-from which Greek and Latin were omitted-was instituted. Relatively few students availed themselves of this short-cut for which a Bachelor of Philosophy degree was granted and it was eliminated in 1885.

The revolutionary curriculum change was, of course, the introduction of electives. Stimulated by President Eliot’s innovations at Harvard which caught the imagination of the younger faculty and students, it encountered vigorous opposition, especially from the professors of the classics and mathematics. Slowly, however, the wave of the future engulfed them and in 1885 a radically revised curriculum emerged which provided, in addition to the old Classical Course, three different Scientific Courses, one which included only Greek; a second, only Latin; and a third which omitted both Greek and Latin. Students in the Classical Course were candidates for the Bachelor of Arts degree and those in the other three for the Bachelor of Science. Within each course, electives were offered to juniors and seniors. Professor William S. Crawshaw, who as a young instructor had attended the heated discussions, commented years later in his autobiography, My

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Posted in Administration, Faculty, and Instruction in the Dodge Era, Chapter 9, p. 189, timeline

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