The Virginia Teacher

VOLUME XI MARCH, 1930 NUMBER 3

SHOULD A LIBERAL ARTS The perplexities and problems of busi- ness and industry during the recent World FOR WOMEN BE War greatly accelerated the movement al- ESTABLISHED IN VIRGINIA? ready begun of admitting women to practi- IT is generally conceded that there is need cally all vocations and professions. This in in Virginia for a Liberal Arts College turn increased the demand for and interest for Women. There has been little at- in the higher of women, especially tempt, however, to analyze this need along vocational and professional lines. and discover what kind of institution this Women became distinctly vocationally mind- college should be. ed. Girl graduates of our secondary , Any college for women, supported by a to a degree equalling if not actually ex- democratic State and in keeping with the ceeding that of the boys, are looking for- best traditions and ideals of Virginia, should ward to a that will give be a college for all the women of the State, them, in addition to the cultural and liberal of such character, purpose and ability, as education of a College of Arts and Sciences, to be worthy of a higher education. specific training for some definite life career. Such a college then must serve the needs Question any girl graduate of a secondary of three classes of women: and you will almost invariably find that she wishes to educate herself for, among 1. The class who earnestly desire a real other things, economic independence, for cultural or liberal education without taking her part in the work of the world, any idea of applying it to a specific and for the possible eventuality of being vocational or professional purpose. thrown upon her own responsibility and hav- 2. The vocational or professional class ing to earn her own livelihood. In the main, who wish, along with their liberal edu- this large group of the rank and file of cation, specific preparation of a techni- the young women of the State do not look cal character for some definite voca- forward to a period of higher education be- tion or profession. yond that of the four-year curricula of the undergraduate college. And they wish too 3. The pre-professional class who are to obtain, while they are securing this vo- looking forward to professional educa- cational or professional education, just as tion after completion of their under- large a share as possible of those literary, graduate work and who therefore wish scientific, and spiritual inheritances of the a good foundation in liberal arts for race which constitute the chief objectives of this advanced study. a liberal education. They have the ambition For class one, those who earnestly seek also that this education should be on a level a real cultural and liberal education, we find equal to the best that the State offers to men. a very persistent, devoted and intelligent They believe most profoundly that, in this group of women pleading for a liberal arts matter, the State should grant women the program in a coordinate college. The prob- same consideration that it grants men. In able number of students demanding this the writer's opinion, the large majority of provision is not large but represents unques- these young women, as well as their parents, tionably the group from which comes our prefer that this education should be provided finest scholarship. by the State in a college exclusively for Class two, the vocationally or profession- women and not in a coeducational institu- ally minded, form, by far, the largest group tion. of students, yet one whose interests and What is the situation in Virginia that con- needs have received scant consideration in fronts these young women who graduate the agitation for a State College for Women. from our secondary schools and who wish Let us consider them for a moment. to attend a State-supported college? They 74 THE VIRGINIA TEACHER [Vol. 11. No. 3 may go to one of the four State Teachers a college for women which will provide first , they may attend, to a limited ex- a liberal arts program that will be the chief tent, William and Mary College, they may and controlling feature of the college. From enter Virginia Polytechnic Institute, or, after this central element that will give form and reaching a certain age and completing two direction to the college, there should branch years of college work, they may enter cer- out vocational, professional, and pre-profes- tain professional courses at the sional courses, each with a substantial and of Virginia.* We find therefore that they definite requirement of work in liberal arts have no State liberal arts college open as a foundation for the professional course. to them except the coeducational Col- This college should provide, in other words, lege of William and Mary. As a result, there opportunities for undergraduate work for were registered in the four State Teachers women paralleling the courses for men at Colleges, exclusive of their summer schools the University. There should be in the col- in 1928-'29 (total enrollment for winter ses- lege, of course, some courses, such as home sion) 2739 women from Virginia and in economics and social welfare curricula, that William and Mary College 431 women from would not appear in a college exclusively for Virginia. Of the Virginia women students men. registered at William and Mary, 159, ac- This college should be coordinated with cording to the catalog, pledged themselves the . The women of to teach in Virginia. Therefore we find of the State unmistakably prefer this arrange- the total of 3,170 Virginia women registered ment. Such coordination would give the in these five colleges that 2,898 were being college prestige from its beginning and prepared for the one profession of teaching. would be a guarantee that the highest qual- In other words, an abnormally large percent- ity and standards of instruction would pre- age of Virginia girls are drawn into teaching vail in the college. Furthermore, the fact because of the lack of suitable opportunities that the college would be under the control for professional education along other lines of the Board of Visitors of the University in the State colleges for women. would be a safeguard against the possible Let us contrast this with the situation re- ambition of the college to expand its cur- garding men in State-supported undergrad- ricula in the direction of graduate work uate colleges. In 1928-29 there were regis- and hence duplicate the graduate courses tered 2,677 men from Virginia in under- which are now open to women at the Univer- graduate work at the University of Vir- sity. The Board would, in all probability ginia, William and Mary, Virginia Military too, so organize the curricula at the Col- Institute, and Virginia Polytechnic Insti- lege for Women that they would articulate tute. At the University and William and with the graduate work at the University Mary a man might take a straight liberal and provide adequate preparation for the arts curriculum leading to the A. B. degree graduate schools of the University. In this and at the four colleges combined he might manner, the pre-professional courses could pursue one of more than thirty different be given and most admirably adapted to vocational, professional or pre-professional the educational scheme at the University. courses in preparation for his life work. We suggest as the name of this college To even the casual observer, therefore, it "The Virginia College for Women" and would seem that there is need in Virginia for would further suggest that whenever this name appears in the printed literature of the ♦These statements apply to the regular win- ter sessions and not necessarily to the sum- college it should be accompanied by the leg- mer quarters where admission to women is end, "Coordinated with the University of more libeifil. Virginia." March, 1930] THE VIRGINIA TEACHER 75

WHY SHOULD THE LIBERAL ARTS Modern, new, well-equipped buildings COLLEGE FOR WOMEN BE means low repair costs. LOCATED AT HARRISONBURG? Municipally owned water and power plants mean relatively low costs for water I. Minimum Expenditure to the State and electric current. To reproduce the plant of the State Modern heating plant with railroad sid- Teachers College at Harrisonburg, with ing to boiler house means low heating the new building included in the budget costs. of 1930, would require an expenditure of Rich agricultural section of the Valley $1,500,000. means low food costs. To locate the college at some other The State Teachers College will have, point than in an existing State institution July 1, 1932, student loan funds with a would involve the State in a capital out- combined principal of more than $25,- lay expenditure of at least $1,500,000 and 000 which can be transferred to the new an annual appropriation for all purposes college. of perhaps $300,000. Suppose some privately owned and con- II. Coordination with the University— trolled college with an adequate physical 1. Will meet the wishes of a large major- plant could be secured for this purpose, in ity of the women of the State. fee simple, what would be the cost to 2. Will give the college prestige from the the State? Probably $300,000 per year, beginning. a sum that would equal the total value 3. Will guarantee a high quality of work of the plant in five years, to say nothing in the college. of the perpetual maintenance of another 4. Will prevent the college from expand- college. ing into the graduate field. To locate the college at the State 5. Will provide articulation of the col- Teachers College at Harrisonburg would lege curricula with the graduate and involve the State in probably not more professional schools of the University. than $73,000 per year in additional sup- port to the amount now appropriated to III. The Advantages of the Location at Har- Harrisonburg, in order to provide for a risonburg liberal arts college of 700 students. The additional capital outlay required would 1. The best proof of the proper location not vary materially whether the institu- of an established college is its proven power to attract students. tion is used as a teachers college or a liberal arts college. The State Teachers College at Harri- The operating income of the State sonburg, during the winter session of the Teachers College at Harrisonburg in past year, had a total enrollment of 875 1927-1928 was as follows: students, a record that we believe is un- State appropriation ... $ 83,700.00 surpassed in the first twenty years of Smith Hughes Refund 3,140.48 the history of any Virginia college. Student Fees 270,216.05 During the twenty years of the ope- ration of the college, it has registered Total annual income... $357,056.53 more than 10,000 different students. This student registration has been The new college, if located at Harrison- well distributed over the entire State burg, would undoubtedly attract a stu- as evidenced by the following facts; Ad- dent body of 700 or more. If a gradual ding the total enrollments of the Col- transition from a teachers college to a lege for the last five years, fifty per liberal arts college were made, this in- cent of the students have come from come could be preserved and increased east of a line drawn north and south and there would be no disorganization of through Charlottesville, fifty per cent the administration personnel of the col- from west of the line. Drawing a line lege. east and west through Richmond, fifty- Harrisonburg can offer distinct advan- three per cent of the students come from tages in operating costs: the section of the State north of the THE VIRGINIA TEACHER [Vol. 11, No. 3

line, forty-seven per cent south of the The region extending between the line. Distributing them by natural Blue Ridge and Alleghany Mountains, divisions of the State, one finds forty from Winchester to Bristol, is one of per cent of them from the area west of the most popular sections in America the Blue Ridge, thirty-three per cent for the location of schools and colleges. from central Virginia, and twenty-seven The climate of Harrisonburg in the per cent from Tidewater Virginia. summer makes the college especially 2. The location of the Liberal Arts Col- desirable as a location for the summer lege for Women at Harrisonburg would quarter, which is now a recognized part give the following excellent geographi- of nearly all State colleges. cal distribution of State Colleges open Harrisonburg is the center of a region to women; East of the line (meridian rich in historic, scenic and cultural re- 78° 30O passing north and south sources. (See special pamphlet on this through Charlottesville, one would find subject.) William and Mary College for the edu- cation of women in liberal arts, and IV. The Physical Plant Farmville and Fredericksburg State The physical plant of the college at Teachers Colleges for the training of Harrisonburg, with the central admin- teachers. West of the line one would istration building provided by the Bud- find Harrisonburg for the education of get Bill of 1930, is now well prepared women in liberal arts, the Radford to provide for the education of 800 State Teachers College for the training women students. of teachers, and Virginia Polytechnic The college plant consists of a cam- Institute for the education of women pus of sixty acres with an auxiliary area along certain vocational or professional of thirty acres on the Shenandoah River lines. If you draw a line (or use par- where the college is developing a recre- allel 37° 307) east and west through ation center and a field laboratory for Richmond, you find north of the line biology and for health and physical Harrisonburg for the education of education. On the quadrangle are ten women in liberal arts, Fredericksburg large buildings of native gray limestone State Teachers College for teacher train- —off the quadrangle are four other ing, and the University for graduate buildings of smaller type. Included in work for women. South of the line, you the larger buildings are five dormitories would find William and Mary College or residence halls, an academic build- (liberal arts), Farmville and East ing, a science hall, a building for student Radford State Teachers Colleges, and activities, a service building, and a Virginia Polytechnic Institute for voca- library building which is also used for tional and professional courses. administrative purposes. The smaller 3. Natural Advantages buildings consist of a small dormitory, The location at Harrisonburg has the President's residence, the college in- many significant natural advantages: firmary, and a duplex practice house for Beautiful mountain scenery. home economics. The college library Elevation 1300 feet. has approximately fourteen thousand Invigorating and healthful climate. volumes and is well equipped. There Accessible location on the historic are laboratories for chemistry, physics, biology, general science, home econom- Lee Highway. ics, and fine arts. There is also a well Harrisonburg has three railways, the equipped School of Music with pro- Baltimore and Ohio, the Southern, and vision for five teachers. The college the Chesapeake-Western. The Norfolk Has two gymnasiums, two swimming and Western has connections, both by pools (indoor and outdoor), athletic railway and bus line at Elkton (18 field, tennis courts, and a standard nine- miles distant) and the Chesapeake and hole golf course. The college has for Ohio is connected with Harrisonburg its use two additional dormitories that by both railway and bus line at Staun- were built by private capital and leased ton (25 miles distant). to the college. March, 1930] THE VIRGINIA TEACHER 77

The central administration building consisting of some of the most promi- recommended in the appropriation bill nent educators in America, viz: Dr. M. of 1930 is to be a fireproof building V. O'Shea, University of Wisconsin, with administrative offices, provided chairman; Dr. J. E. Buttenworth, Cor- with fireproof vaults for registrar's and nell; Dr. F. G. Bonser, Columbia; Dr. treasurer's offices, a large number of Calvin O. Davis, University of Michi- additional classrooms; laboratories for gan; Dean F. J. Kelly, University of chemistry, physics, and fine arts (leav- Minnesota; Dr. W. Carson Ryan, ing biology and home economics in Swarthmore; Pres. Charles McKenny, Maury Hall), accommodations for the Michigan State Teachers College; Dr. music department, consisting of fifteen W. T. B. Williams, Tuskegee Institute practice rooms, four studios, an assem- and Slater Foundation; Dr. C. J. An- bly room and practice pipe organ; and derson and Dr. John G. Fowlkes, Uni- an auditorium with a seating capacity versity of Wisconsin. of 1,500 equipped with modern stage equipment, a pipe organ, and moving VI. The Professional Standing of the Col- picture equipment. lege Immediately adjoining the campus is The State Teachers College at Har- a splendid hospital which, in addition risonburg has a national reputation for to the usual hospital facilities, contains excellent quality of work and high a branch of the State Department of standards of scholarship. Health Laboratory where frequent tests The college is a Class A member of are made not only for diagnosis of ill- the American Association of Teachers ness but also to determine the sanitary Colleges. quality and condition of water, milk, The college is a full member, and has swimming pools, etc. The hospital is been for three years, of the Associa- splendidly equipped and is very useful tion of Colleges and Secondary Schools to the college in emergency cases. of the Southern States, the highest and The present college plant at Harri- most authoritative accrediting agency sonburg was not only built with the in the South. needs of women students constantly in Record of Harrisonburg graduates at mind, but it was also built according other colleges and universites, as deter- to a detailed plan worked out care- mined in a recent study, show: fully before the first building was con- University of Virginia 84 1 structed. This plan has been consis- Ohio State University 18 1 tently followed and there need be no Scarritt College 36 0 costly reconstruction of buildings in or- University of Wisconsin 38 0 der to meet the needs of a larger col- George Peabody College 243 0 lege. Johns Hopkins University 4 0 George Washington Uni- V. Professional Opinion versity 17 I The educational Commission which Medical College of Virginia 38 0 reported to the General Assembly of Columbia University 146 .1 1928 recommended that the Harrison- burg State Teachers College be convert- Total 624 4 ed into a liberal arts college for women coordinated with the University Total failures; six-tenths of one per of Virginia. This Commission consist- cent—a record that challenges compari- ed of a number of able and distin- son. guished Virginians among whom were No better evidence can be produced the eminent Presidents of Sweetbriar to show that not only is the institution College and . Behind at Harrisonburg on a college level but this Commission's report was the un- also that it is on a level comparable to biased, distinterested, recommendation that of the best colleges and for the same action by the Survey Staff, of our country. 78 THE VIRGINIA TEACHER [Vol. 11, No. 3

VII. The Heritage of Traditions CULTURAL RESOURCES OF Every college builds its own tradi- tions. It does not borrow them. The HARRISONBURG State Teachers College at Hqrrisonburg MIDWAY between Lexington, the has established certain traditions that "Athens of the South," and Win- would be a most valuable heritage for chester, one of the most historic a liberal arts college for women. cities in America; near Charlottes- 1. The Harrisonburg student has a ville, the home of Jefferson, and Staun- hopeful, happy, joyous, optimistic ton, the birthplace of Woodrow Wil- outlook upon life, an attitude that is son; with its main street the scenic Lee the reflection of the influence of the Highway, one of the most celebrated old invigorating and inspiring climate trails in the New World, Harrisonburg en- and scenery of the Valley of Virginia. joys unusual historic, scenic, and cultural 2. There is at Harrisonburg a tradi- resources. tion of unbounded loyalty to the col- The fine associations of the region are lege which places squarely behind suggested to the casual visitor and kept every interest of the institution the alive in the hearts of all residents by the energy and devotion of its 10,000 names of buildings on the campus of the alumnae. State Teachers College. For example, Maury 3. There is at the college the tradition Hall reminds us of the "Pathfinder of the of fine achievement, and dedica- Seas," who spent his last years in active ser- tion of one's energies and talents, vice at Lexington. Jackson Hall commemo- one's enthusiasm and vigor, to the rates the immortal "Stonewall," whose service of the Commonwealth. famous "Valley Campaign" was wrought out 4. A profound and constant devotion and fought out with Harrisonburg as a cen- to the cause of scholarship, learning ter. Ashby Hall brings to mind General and truth dominates the atmosphere Turner Ashby, "Knight of the Valley," of the college. whose death signalized a victorious day with 5. The students of the college prize the Jackson on a wooded hillside almost at the tradition in their social life of thor- edge of the College campus. Spotswood ough democracy. They look beyond Hall recalls Alexander Spotswood and the the external evidences of the wealth "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe," who, of an individual for other signs of in 1716, crossed the Blue Ridge only a worth—signs of character, of ability, few miles east of Harrisonburg. Harrison of worthy purposes, of friendliness. Hall bears the name of the distinguished These ideals we claim should pre- family for whom the city was named and vail in all State colleges and are neces- commemorates especially Gessner Harrison, sary to the success of any college for who was for many years a distinguished the daughters of all the people. teacher, author, and administrative officer Samuel P. Duke. at the University of Virginia. Reed Hall keeps in mind the fact that Walter Reed, DUTY OF PRINCIPAL TO PRESERVE eminent scientist and world benefactor, used SANITY to be a sojourner at Harrisonburg, where "A school principal is one who is paid his father owned a home and frequently re- sided during a period of twenty years. extra to refrain from working too hard, so that when everyone else about the place has Famous Men and Women gone fagged or wild, his cool head will Associated with Harrisonburg and Vicinity serve as a nucleus of sanity," writes Dr. In 1784 General Washington was a so- Daniel Wolford LaRue, professor of psy- journer in the county for several days, visit- ing Thomas Lewis and Gabriel Jones, both chology in the Pennsylvania State Teachers of whom were prominent figures in colonial College at East Stroudsburg, in the Journal Virginia. Washington himself tells of this of the National Education Association. visit to Rockingham, at considerable length,