63

REPORT OF PRESIDENT. 7

tofore, and the Young Men's Christian Association has done a notably
good year's work.

The wholesome tradition of hard work, which has made the reputat-
tion of Wake Forest, is maintained unimpaired among our students. In
the older and larger institutions of this country and of England com-
plaint is beginning to be heard that an increasing proportion of men
come to them for the sake of pleasure and social recognition, rather than
for the enrichment of their natures by genuine study. We are not
likely to suffer in the near future the deterioration of our standards
by any considerable infusion of such purposeless material. The de-
mands of the several departments are exacting, and the overwhelming
majority of the students, with varying degrees of success, indeed, and
with some complainings here and there, continue, nevertheless, to re-
spond with earnest and steady work.

The New Endowment Fund.-In your agreement with the General
Education Board the period allowed for securing the subscription of
$112,500 to the endowment in order to receive from that Board $37,500
closed December 31, 1907. By that date Professor J. B. Carlyle had
completed the required subscription with a margin to cover inevitable
losses. The cash collected on this fund down to February 13th of the
present year, was £16,374.33. On the 4th of March the check of the
Treasurer of the General Educational Board for $5458.11 was received,
which amount was the first pro rata payment by that Board on account
of its conditional appropriation to the endowment of the College. Ac-
cordingly, the aggregate addition to the endowment, March 4th, 1908,
was £21,832.44, carrying forward the total fund to $302,614.81. In view
of the fact that few of the notes taken in this subscription came to ma-
turity the first year, this cash collection for that peeriod is quite satis-
factory. Accordingg to yourr action in the December meeting, the collec-
tion of these endowment notes passed into the hands of the College Bur-
sar with the assistance of Professor J. B. Carlyle.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.-Under
the clear conviction that it would be greatly to the advantage of the
College to be admitted to the list of colleges accepted by the Carnegie
Foundation, the President of the College had an interview in August
last, with the Assistant Secretary of the Foundation. It was learned
that, in order to be admitted to the benefits of the Foundation, an insti-
tution must certify by resolution that "no denominational test is im-
posed in the choice of trustees, officers or teachers, nor in the admission
of student." Although the word "Baptist" does not occur in the College
Charter, the invariable precedent of electing trustees from the mem-
bership of Baptist churches appeared really, though not formally, to

WAKE FOREST COLLEGE.

be in opposition to the purpose of that resolution, and the application
for admission to the benefits of the Foundation was withdrawn in the
view that it was not proper to compromise to any degree the vital
relation which binds the College to the denomination. The subsequent
effort to secure the recognition of individual teachers of the College in-
dependently of the relation of the College itself to the Foundation, has
so far met with failure. There is some indication that in the course
of two or three years the question of the denominational college in
relation to the Foundation will be satisfactorily settled.

The New Dormitory.-In special meetings, June 14th and August
22nd, 1907, you gave directions for the erection of a new dormitory
on the expectation of the early transfer to you of property in Kinston,
N. C. estimated to be worth $25,000. There has been no change of
purpose on the part of the original donor; the property will still come
to the College. But an unforseen impediment to the immediate trans-
fer arose on the eve of the execution of the papers, and your Building
Committee, in consultation with the Executive Committee, deemed it
wise under these circumstances to postpone for the time the execution
of your order. Your special committee to provide additional accommo-
dations for student secured the Walters house at a reasonable rate for
three years, and it has been used the present session as a club and
lodging house. A new building with lodgings for forty men was
erected in the village in the fall.

The Library.-The fact that Mr Andrew Carnegie has not given a
favorable response to our application for a Library building is probably
due to our present inability to meet his condition of an endowment fund
to guarantee the adequate maintenance of the Library. For such a fund
we can not now make a general appeal; nor shall we be able to do so
until the general endowment movement is closed up with the year 1910.
We seem to be-shut up to the policy recommended to farmers by an
official of the United States Department of Agriculture. "The only
way," said he. "the poor farmer can prosper is by remaining in the old
rut and improving the rut." We shall have to improve our present li-
brary arrangements. More stacks for books now lying on the floor
will have to be provided; the fitting up of the Mathematics room with
proper furniture as a reading room not in open access to the book
shelves, would be a distinct advantage; and the employment of a per-
manent librarian for all his time is even more urgent now than when
it was suggested to you last May, and that arrangement can probably
be made at but little more expense than that of the present service.

The Department of Physical Culture.-Attendance in the Gymnasium
is required of all students three periods a week for three years. Stu-
dents are graded as in other departments, and these grades are reckoned
in making up the general averages and condition a student's graduation.