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UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA

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of loyal and faithful groups of public servants. In one state a sharp
differentiation was attempted, with sciences on the upper college level
concentrated on one campus and liberal arts on the other, against
the whole tendency and spirit of learning. Consolidation in one state
looked to a submergence of institutions and an emergence and domi-
nance of a system with a possible loss of precious treasures of
locality and spirit. Destructive antagonisms, warring institutions,
lowered morale, and state-rending factions followed in the wake of
some of these consolidations. They will doubtless all come through
with values for themselves and for universities in other American
states.

North Carolina has come to consolidation by many approaches
common to other states, and is working it out in ways common to
them and distinctive of its own life and needs. North Carolina had
in common with other states the drastic economies of the depression;
the movement for the reorganization of state government and institu-
tions; the initiative of the Governor, unique perhaps for his vision
above the budgetary destructions of the hour and his impetuous
enthusiasm for consolidation communicated to public leaders and the
legislature; a state commission on consolidation; a notable survey
for the commission by a staff of disinterested and distinguished
experts from outside the state; the adaptation of the report of the
experts by the commission, and further adaptations and actions by
the consolidated board in whom rests the final authority. The Board
of Trustees, with high regard for the many values of the experts'
report, have acted upon their recommendations not as a fixed blue-
print for arbitrary acceptance but as a chart for guidance, adaptation,
modification, and further study in the development of consolidation.

North Carolina has drawn upon the experiences of several states
and shares many of these procedures with other states, but its dis-
tinctive contribution to the process is the enlistment of especially
equipped men and women in the three faculties for further study of
the inner life and needs of the three institutions as they unite to serve
the state. Consolidation thus becomes not merely an instrument for
economy but fundamentally a process in education. We appreciate
deeply the support of the Board of Trustees in its stand for an
educational development as against any political manipulation of con-
solidation. Consolidation becomes more significant in the participation
of committees of the faculties in the shaping of the slower processes