Jane Lathrop Stanford Papers

39

Through the hard times when the students increased in numbers but not the teachers I worked harder than I ever did in any other institution and harder than my fellow economists in the East ever tried to work. And why? Because anybody required it? No, but because it was my pride to have my department here just as good as it is in Universities with two or three times as much to spend on teachers. I could not bear to see this University behind the best, and so because there were only two or three of us I spent myself freely to make our courses as many and as strong as in Yale or Harvard where they have four professors to do the work.

There is not one of the men that graduated with me from Johns Hopkins University nine years ago who has not besides teaching published one or two books, and so built up his personal reputation. But I have published no book yet. Why not? Because I can't write one? No, but because I did not take time from my classes and give to private work.

If anybody had said then "You will be sorry you gave up a fine position and chances of promotion at Cornell and gave yourself up to Stanford University. You will regret you did not write your books, and thereby better your chances of getting a place elsewhere. As soon as the hard times are over for the University and the good times come all the loyalty you have shown will be forgotten, all the struggles you have made will be ignored and you will be dropped ignominiously without warning and without cause and assigned" If anyone