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قراءة كتاب The New England Magazine, Volume 1, No. 2, February, 1886. The Bay State Monthly, Volume 4, No. 2, February, 1886.

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‏اللغة: English
The New England Magazine, Volume 1, No. 2, February, 1886.
The Bay State Monthly,  Volume 4, No. 2, February, 1886.

The New England Magazine, Volume 1, No. 2, February, 1886. The Bay State Monthly, Volume 4, No. 2, February, 1886.

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دار النشر: Project Gutenberg
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planted in such close proximity to that powerful and venerable seat of learning would, in the beginning, attract students from its immediate neighborhood. Many persons have thought that the location of the College is a mistaken one on that account. But colleges are not made in one day nor in one decade. It will take more than Leland Stanford's twenty millions of endowment to give his University a solid and enduring fame. Colleges, indeed, like all the great and permanent institutions by which society is upheld, and the welfare and progress of humanity are secured, are the slow growth of generations. The selection of the present site of the College cannot be regarded as other than fortunate; first, because of its proximity to Boston, the most important literary centre of the new world, where it may constantly feel the pulsations of every intellectual movement that takes place in the domain of thought; and, secondly, because, owing to its contact with the foremost college in the land, it has been compelled to adopt and maintain the highest standards in its work. The result of this is seen in the steady growth of recent years. During the last five or six years there has been a good percentage of attendance from schools in the immediate neighborhood of the College which have heretofore sent their students almost exclusively to Harvard. Men have been drawn to the College wholly without reference to denominational lines, simply because they believed the College had advantages to offer unsurpassed by any institution in the country. Within the last two years the College has made a gain in students of at least forty per cent. The whole number who entered the different departments in the year 1884-5 was sixty-one, and although the number entering in 1885-6 was somewhat less, yet the whole number in the College is greater than ever before, namely, one hundred and forty, of whom twenty-six are in the Divinity School, and the remainder in the College of letters.

The course of study originally adopted was substantially that of the leading New England colleges. It has adhered throughout very firmly to its standard. The ten associated colleges of Southern New England voted at their annual meeting in 1879 that it is desirable to adopt a system of uniform requirements for the admission of students. Tufts was one of the first to accept the scheme proposed by the conference of examiners in the different institutions. The faculty as originally constituted consisted of three professors beside the president; and for many years, the entire work of the College was performed by not more than five teachers. The gifts and benefactions of Dr. Walker, designed mainly for the promotion of mathematics and related branches of study, enabled the trustees to enlarge the facilities for instruction on the side of science. A professorship of civil engineering was created in 1867. This department has been enlarged gradually, until now men may receive complete courses of professional instruction in civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering. Some very able engineers, holding important and responsible positions, have received their training here. The subjects of natural history, physics, and chemistry have each been assigned to separate chairs. The department of physics has two excellent working laboratories. Besides the regular work in physics with the College classes, original investigations are carried on under the direction of Dr. Dolbear, the professor of physics, and assistant-professor Hooper. In the department of chemistry, the organic research laboratory has been very carefully equipped for that line of work, and offers facilities for original investigation which will compare favorably with those of any similar laboratory in the country. During the past year very considerable additions to chemical knowledge have been made by Professor Michael and his able corps of assistants. Of the department of natural history we shall speak later on.

The only degree given in the beginning as a reward for residence and study in the College was that of Bachelor of Arts. But the presence of a large number of students who were not prepared to take that course of study in full led to the organization of two additional courses, one leading to the degree of Civil Engineer, and the other to the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. The latter course has received many modifications, and in the autumn of 1875 it was determined to make it a four years course, the same in all respects as the regular course, except that it omits Greek and substitutes instead of it the modern languages and some elective work in science. Previous to 1875 the work of the College was mainly prescribed, with but little opportunity for optional or elective studies. At that time the scope of electives was greatly broadened. There are now eleven full courses of electives open to students. From the middle of the junior year, a very large percentage of the student's work is in those lines which he chooses for himself. It was decided also, immediately after the elective system went into effect, to confer special honors at the time of graduation upon any student who attains distinction in any particular study and in two cognate studies, under such rules as the faculty have prescribed. Another important movement in the direction of sound scholarship was made about this time. It was determined that the degree of Master of Arts, which, so far, had been granted to all graduates of the degree of A.B. who applied for it after three years from their graduation, should be conferred only upon such graduates of the regular and philosophical courses as should pursue, during a residence of not less than one year, under the direction of the faculty, a prescribed course of study in at least two departments. The privilege of graduate study was also opened to those holding like degrees from other colleges. The result of this action has been to retain at the College for more protracted and profound study ambitious and scholarly men out of every class.

The modifications of discipline have been no less important either in their character or results. Formerly in all the New England colleges an elaborate system of rules, enforced by an oversight, which often amounted to espionage, was thought to be necessary to good order and the proper moral development of young men. In the eyes of the students, the faculty of a college seemed to be little else than a grand court of inquisition for the trial and punishment of offences against discipline. In point of fact, a very large percentage of the time of college officers was spent in that business. At Tufts, perhaps more completely than in any other New England college, all this is changed. Formal rules relating to conduct have been abolished. Men are put entirely upon their honor, and are no longer watched. Since 1875, there has not been a single case of a student summoned before the faculty or a committee of the faculty for discipline. Under this policy the gain in the orderly behavior, moral tone, and contentment of students has been immense. For eleven years only one student has been sent away from the College for misconduct; and not more than one or two, so far as I remember, have left the College because of dissatisfaction either with its methods or its facilities; while the relative percentage of those who graduate to those who enter has risen in twenty years from sixty-three per cent to nearly eighty per cent, placing us, in this respect, in the front rank of New England colleges.

The whole number of graduates is now about four hundred. Of this number representatives may be found in the principal walks of almost every one of the learned professions. As an indication of the quality of scholarship produced, it may be remarked that the catalogue of 1885-6 shows that no less than nine of the officers of instruction and government, including the president, are from its own graduates. The

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