The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 12, 1932, Page Page Two, Image 2
Noted
Acy.v
Describe '
Of Goi
?: <
Bernard M. Baruch And Noted
Educators And Financiers
Give Opinions
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE)
contributed from any alumnus of the
institution.
"It occurred to me some weeks ago
that I could render a worth while service
by securing from trained and experienced
educators, whose activities
have covered a broad section of the
country outside of South Carolina, disinterested
expressions as to the qualifications
of candidates which in their
opinions should be given particular
consideration by the Board of Governors
in making their final choice. Accordingly
I addressed letters to the
Deans of the Departments of Education
of a number of the most important
American Universities outlining
briefly the organization of the
University, the important place that it
fills in the cultural life of the state and
the conditions under which it is forced
I to function and requested from them
summary opinions as to the qualifications
which in their judgment were
most important for consideration.
"In the concluding paragraph of
my letter, I said?
'I am convinced that great advantage
would accrue to the institution
should it be possible to place at its
head some relatively young man
selected primarily without regard to
former connection with either the institution
or the region, but solely on
account of executive capacity, proved
leadership and approved scholarship
who might infuse into it a more
modern spirit and wider, riper scholarship.'
"To these letters I have received a
number of replies. They include responses
from two gentlemen whose
interest in South Carolina is well
known: Dr. David F. Houston, the
distinguished college president and
member of President Wilson's cabinet
in two great capacities, now the head
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of the largest Insurance company in
the world, and Mr. Bernard M. Baruch,
the son of one of the most distinguished
physicians and surgeons of
South Carolina, the head of the great
war-time department of Supplies of a
Democratic government and one of
the ablest financiers of his generation.
Letters from these men and from the
heads of the department of education
of the greatest educational institutions
of our continent are worthy of the
consideration which I do not doubt
will be accorded them by the authorities
charged with the great duty of
selecting a competent head of our beloved
Alma Mater."
David F. Houston
Mr. Houston received his A. B. degree
at Carolina in 1887. For 15 years
he was an educator, serving as president
of the A. and M. College of
Texas, the University of Texas, and
Washington University in St. Louis.
He was secretary of agriculture and
later secretary of the treasury in
President Wilson's cabinet. He is now
president of the Mutual Life Insurance
Company of New York. Eight
honorary degrees have been awarded
him.
His reply to Mr. Evans is:
"I am very much interested in the
University of South Carolina, as I received
my first degree from that institution.
I have known most of the
presidents of the college since 1885.
The institution is a good one and
should have the very best man it can
possibly find.
"It is easier to indicate the qualifications
which a man should have for the
presidency of a university than it is
to find a man who possesses them.
"Of course the president should be
a. gentleman. Such a man would
therefore have character and courage.
He should have common sense, a
capacity for leadership and should
have a very thorough, broad education.
Incidentally, he should possess
knowledge of the institutions of his
country and of its history, including
its economic development. He should
be a capable speaker. It is necessary
that he should have a thorough grasp
of educational matters, otherwise he
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could not lead a body of educators or
help direct the educational development
of his State.
"He should be relatively young, preferably
not over forty years. I should
not hesitate to select the right sort of
man for an assistant who would be in
the neighborhood of thirty. In one
large organization my most capable
aid was twenty-five when I selected
him and made him my first assistant.
In another the aid was twenty-seven.
This one was Parker Gilbert. He was
made Fiscal Assistant Secretary of the
Treasury at that age. You know what
he did in the Treasury and in Germany.
"It makes no difference where a
man is from. It does make a great
difference what a man is and what
qualifications he possesses. I regret
to say that I do not know an available
man. I would not take any man who
has not had experience in educational
matters. A business man or a professional
man, without such experience,
usually fails in college administration."
Daniel Willard
Mr. Willard, president of the board
of trustees of the Johns Hopkins University,
is also president of the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad Company.
One of the best known railroad executives
in the country, he is also director
in some of its largest corporations.
His opinion is:
"I am much interested in your letter
of the 15th, regarding the administrative
problem now before the University
of South Carolina, and while I do
not feel qualified to speak as an expert
in these matters, I shall be glad
to outline for you as best I can some
of the ideas I have heard expressed
from time to time regarding the procedure
for selecting a university president.
"Those who ought to know a good
deal more about the subject than I do,
foundation officials, faculty members
and others closely identified with educational
questions, generally seem to
agree on the following propositions:
first, that the new president should be
a young man, preferably between
forty and forty-five; second, that he
should come from outside of the immediate
university family, and perhaps
from a different section of the country;
third, that he should be primarily
a scholar and an educator and secondly
an administrator and an executive;
fourth, that he should have ability to
present the cause of the university to
the public, and in particular should
have some faculty for raising money.
"There is a school of thought among
experts who are principally interested
in finances, that the university president
of today should have a marked
leaning toward the administrative side
of the job, as many seem to feel that
the chief problem of many universities
in the next decade or so will be one
of achieving greater efficiency on
smaller incomes. I have heard that
several other universities seeking new
presidents have been strongly urged
to look for men who have special
training along those lines. This, of
course, is a question to be determined
by the special requirements of any
given institution.
"The only other subject which occurs
to me as possibly having interest
to you is that able university presidents
seem to be very rare. Ordinarily,
I am told, the leading universities
spend a great deal of time, effort
and thought in the selection of new
presidents. The search is usually nation
wide, and the choice made only
after consultation with a large number
of educators and educational experts.
"I am not sure how helpful this information
may be to you, but I wish
you and your associates the best of
fortune in solving your problem. Certainly
you are to be congratulated for
taking such keen interest in the matter."
Bernard M. Baruch
Mr. Baruch, a son of the late Dr.
Simon Baruch of Camden, noted Confederate
surgeon, is a graduate of the
College of the City of New York.
During the World War President Wilson
appointed him on the Advisory
Commission of the Council of National
Defense. He was made chairman
of the Commission on Raw Materials,
Minerals, and Metals, as well
as commissioner in charge of raw
materials for the War Industries
Board. Later he became chairman of
the War Industries Board. He was
connected with the American Commission
to Negotiate Peace, and received
several decorations for his war services.
For many years he was a member
of the New York Stock Exchange
and is a multi-millionaire.
Mr. Baruch says:
"I am entirely in harmony with the
description of the ideal man as contained
in the paragraph at the top of
page two of your letter of December I
I
lize Uh
I
14, but I am wondering whether you
could not get some man from business
rather than from scholastic life?
one who would bring ripe experience
into the daily struggles with which a
boy or girl have to contend after
graduation. An ideal man of this type,
I thjnlc, is Senator Christie Benet.
"I wish I could be more helpful."*
J. H. Minnick
Mr. Minnick, dean of the school of
education in the University of Pennsylvania,
, for 12 years, is a noted
mathematical scholar. His views are:
"If I were selecting a president for
a college or university, I should consider
the following points: *
"1. Religion. I should want a man
who had a religion that meant some*thing
to him. On the other hand, I
should want him to be tolerant toward,
those of a different faith. He should
be fair-minded in this respect and live
his religion in such a way as to command
the respect and confidence of all.
"2. Personality. He should be a
man whose personality commands respcct
of students, faculty and the general
public.
"3. Scholarship. The' president
should be a scholarly man. He should
know some branch of knowledge well
enough to command the respect of his
faculty and student body. At the same
time, he should have a broad education
and be well read along many lines.
"4. Professional Ability. The administrator
of an educational institution
requires executive ability. The
president should have a modern view
of education and the purpose of educational
institutions. His outlook
should be such as to enable him to
vision a well-balanced institution,?not
one developed along one line at the
expense of other departments.
"5. Social Qualities. The president
should be a good 'mixer' but not a
'social climber.' He should be acceptable
to the best people of the community
because of his real worth and
sincerity.
"6. Fairness. The president should
have a keen sense of fairness and the
courage to stand by his convictions.
"7. Devotion to Education. He
should be a man who believes in education
and in the institution which is
in his charge. He should feel that it
is a great opportunity to render a service
to young people and through
them to society.
"8. Ability to Speak. While I would
not rank this as an absolute essential,
I do believe it will prove to be a great
asset.
"The above, I believe, are the most
important things to consider in a
candidate."
Henry W. Holmes
Mr. Holmes has been dean of the
graduate school of education in Harvard
University since 1920 and is the
author of a number of books on educational
subjects.
His opinion is:
"The president of a state university
should have, first of all, a national outlook.
Of course he should know the
conditions in the state, but I believe a
man of vigor and intelligence can
easily acquaint himself with the local
situation in a reasonable time and that
it is unnecessary, therefore, to confine
the choice of a president to a native of
the state in question. A state university
is far more than an intellectual or
scientific service station for the state.
Education, particularly university education,
has to deal with universal problems
and a man who has merely local
interests and a local outlook can never
make a state university great.
"The president of a state university
should, in the second place, be himself
a man of very broad education,
strong scholarly interests, and a considerable
experience in educational administration.
A man of purely administrative
experience, especially if such
experiences are outside the university
fiqld, can hardly be considered well
qualified for a university presidency.
The issues to be met in university administration
concern scientific research,
the arrangement of courses and programs,
and the selection of teachers.
One who looks at these matters from
a purely business point of view can
never handle them effectively.
"In the third place, the president of
a state university should be a man of
vigor, both physical and mental. I
hesitate to say that he should necessarily
be a young man, for although
President Eliot entered office at thirtyfive,
President Lowell did not enter
office until he was fifty-four. A university
presidency is a very trying
position. The man who undertakes
the work must be a thinker, a diplomat,
a political leader, ,a financier, and
an idealist. It is very important that
he shall not let h i m s el f be overwhelmed
in detail but shall know how
to delegate various parts of the work
and get them done through others.
. /.S. . , * .r . ...
liversity
f "The worst thing that can happen to
any university, pafticularly a state
university, is to narrow the search for
a new president to native sons or
locally acceptable candidates or men
of merely practical experience who
have no vision as to the possibilities
' of university education in this country."
William P. Rusell
Mr. Rusell, dean of t{ie Teachers
College of Columbia University since
1927, has been in the educational held
for 22 years. He is the author of
many books and articles.
He says:
"I have your note of December 15
and commend your public spirit in interesting
yourself in the type of person
who should become President of the
i University of South Carolina. .
"I feel that this post requires a man
of wisdom and ability. I believe that
he should come from a university
faculty, either from within the University
of South Carolina or outside.
I do not believe that the field of /his
speciality makes a great deal of difference.
If he were to come as a
mathematician or historian or scientist,
it would be of value. If, on the other
hand, he were to come from one of
the professional schools, this would
also have its values.
"I think that all that South Carolina
need have in mind is the experience of
its neighboring states. To build the
university into the institution which it
should become, you need another
Alderman or Chase or a man like
Frank Graham, who is now head of
the University of North Carolina."
W. G. Chambers
Mr. Chambers, dean of the school of
education in Pennsylvania State College
for nine years, has been an educator
for 45 years, and was formerly
dean of education in the University
of Pittsburgh.
His views are:
"The question you raise is an interesting
one and a somewhat difficult
one. I have been greatly interested
over a period of years to note
the very different qualifications of
candidates which evidently dominate
selecting boards. A characteristic
which would disqualify a candidate for
one position is sometimes one of the
inducements for appointing him to another.
"However, there are certain things
that I think can be recognized as common
qualifications in a college president.
Without having thought the
matter consecutively or seriously, I
would suggest the following as worthy
of attention:
"1. Age. There has recently been
what one might almost call a fad
among collegc trustees for hiring a
very young man to a presidency. In
spite of the inducement and vigor and
idealism of youth, I still believe* that
it is not safe to hire a man to so responsible
a position as a college presidency
who is younger than the middle
thirties and I would say that the
years thirty-five to forty-five are the
safest years. A man at that age is
still vigorous and growing if he is
well and industrious and he has still
normally a considerable number of
years of service to contribute to his
institution. Experience has a value
which cannot be wholly offset by
youth and enthusiasm.
"2. Consecutive successful experience
in a few positions. It is not
always a recommendation to a man to
have occupied a large number of positions.
Indeed it almost inevitably
raises a question as to his stability. On
the other hand too long a period in
one position, unless evidences of
growth and progress arc clear
throughout the entire period, might be
regarded as a detriment rather than an
advantage to a candidate.
"3. Thorough scholastic and profes- i
sional training in connection with high
grade institutions. Degrees may or
may not be significant according to
the institutions granting them. Membership
in professional or learned
societies merits consideration. Productively
as shown in publications, researches,
discoveries or inventions
would have significance for certain
types of presidencies.
"4. An attractive personality and the (
ability to make and hold friends,
especially among those working with
one is an important qualification. Does
the candidate lead or drive his subordinates?
Docs he encourage an autocratic
or democratic type of adniinis- j
tration? These questions, should not
be overlooked.
"5. A man's wife and sometimes his
family may be either great assets or
serious liabilities to a man. In more *
than twenty-five years of college ad- '
ministration I think I have never employed
a man without inquiring about i
and if possible meeting his wife. And
in my limited sphere of professional
xtxa
Head
S
,
activities I could attribute succcss or
failure in not a few cases to a man's
wife or to abnormal demands upon
him by His family.
"6. The ability of a man to mix well
with influential public characters,
especially if he is to be required to
raise money or develop influences for
his institution. It is a very unusual
presidency nowadays that does not demand
of a man the ability to command
the support of those who are
high in public places and to secure
substantial gifts.
"7. Other things equal it is of great
value to a man to be thoroughly acquainted
with the community or the
state which his institution is expected
to serve. Sometimes a man brought
from another state or another country
succeeds admirably but even so he has
to spend considerable time in becoming
acquainted with the conditions of
the 'country and people he is expected
to serve, especially with the traditions
of the institution. Consequently,
whether he is a local man or a man
who has acquired all he knows of the
situation by reading or otherwise, it is
a great advantage to be thoroughly
familiar with the institution, its traditions
and the types of service demanded
of it from the beginning.
"In what I have said I have stressed
characteristics likely to be overlooked
rather than those which are most commonly
thought of in considering candidates.
I realize that these are only
a few of the important things which
should be kept in mind in selecting a
college president. Others will doubtless
suggest to you many of the other
qualities which I have not included in
my list.
"I trust that your trustees may
exercise exceptional wisdom and find
an ideal president for the University
of South Carolina."
Charles H. Judd
Doctor Judd, for 23 years dean of
the School of Education in the University
of Chigago, is a noted psychologist.
He was for some time a
member of the Yale faculty.
His opinion is:
"I inclose some material which was
prepared by one of my colleagues who
specializes on the administrative problems
of higher education, I hope this
material will be of service to you."
"The following list of functions of
university and collcgc presidents has
been prepared in connection with a
recent study.
"1. To act as executive officer of
the board of trustees, charged with
putting into effect its policies and regulations.
"2. To preside over meetings of
the faculty.
"3. To act executive officer of the
faculty, charged with seeing that its
policies and regulations are put into
effect. ?
"4. To bear responsibility to the
board of trustees for the satisfactory
government and administration of the
college.
"5. To select a competent and harmonious
teaching and administrative
staff, and to recommend their employment
to the board of trustees.
"6. To make recommendations to
the board of trustees on all matters
pertaining to the prpmotion, demotion,
and dismissal of members of the
teaching and administrative staff.
"7. To represent the institution to
its constituency, to the general public,
and in educational groups.
"8. To prepare and carry out the
annual budget for the operation of the
college. '
"9. To make reports to the board
of tr-ustees, to the standardizing agencies,
and to the constituency of the
college.
"10. To assist as far as possible in
raising funds for the support of the
college.
"11. To maintain amity and unity of
purpose among all members of the
teaching and administrative staff, the
board of control, the alumni, and the
collcgc constituency.
"The adequate performance of these
onerous responsibilities is a severe tax
on the energies of any person. It Inadvisable
therefore tQ choose as presilent
someone in the full vigor of youth
or middle age, rather than one who,
because of advancing age, must conserve
his energy. Furthermore, institutions
seem to profit by relatively
long administrations, and it is therefore
advisable to choose someone who
has prospects of serving the university
for many years.
"It is vitally important that the pC*
3on chosen as president shall have had
:xperience with the administration of
institutions of higher learning. While
it is sometimes possible to obtain
someone lacking this qualification who
later makes good, there is always a"
:lemcnt of risk about such a choice,
(CONTINUED ON PAQK THRKE)
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