Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 May 1888 — INDIANA UNIVERSITY [ARTICLE]

INDIANA UNIVERSITY

Some Factig Regarding a Great State Institution. Tn view of the fact that the Indiana University i* so Jittle known hoybnd a select few within the limit. of our county, which. i« generally the «!use over the northern part of the stat-*, :t may be well, in tbg interests of higher education, to speak concerning the merits- of our State Institution. Why the above fact is true, is eyident. 'The Institution is comparatively in its infancy. Although fonndod away ba' k in the *2Q’s it has managed to eke ou’ an existence, hampered and restrained by unprogressive ideas. It is only in the few years, touched, as it were, by the onward match of progressive college instruction, that i‘, has occupied a position to be envied by the universities of the West, It is now in tl e van-guard of the New School of learning in the West. It recognizes that this is an an nge of specialization. That the time is at hand, when a man must select for himself a sphere of work, and having made the selection, all his efforts, all his studies, must be marshaled in its support, in order to make him strong in life. The idea that a man, in order to be powerful in all hjs parts, must have a smattering of a number of branches, and no deep insight into any one, is of the Old School. The idea that a min must be well ground, d in some one science or language, bringing the others to bear on this selection, in order t<> gain the best disciplin. and the blondest culture is that of the New School. This last is one of the principles on Which the S£ate Univr-’.-ity rests at present. It presents fifteen departmerits, organized in difl Tent sciences aid la l ganger, wi h the i lea of giving a tear yeui s eoui se in sonn oho of them and leaving the student almost absolute freedom in the selection oi his whole course. In the plan of a set curriculum, in I which certain studies constitute .the course of a student, and which he is compelled rigidly to follow, there is discarded the fact that i,o two minds are alike, and that they are not capable hos receiving to like :t - vantages the same course ol instructio . -

It would be saf j to say that all the Western Colleges lire v <>rkiiig to -.’av on that principle, with t:i > exception of the IndTapa University. The present course of which is laid cut with the opposite ; idea paramount. It only requires a few branches tint are eisential to the culture of every student. Otherwise he is free in his choice. It c'tiTKvktes tire idea of H -erty. ard dependence on himself in matters of decision , while it leaves httq free to bring 10 bear on on his min i those-studies that will best develop b; peculiar powers, and those branche s that are best conductive to makehin a broad, liberal and cultivated man. As is well known Jas 1 er, sends away e:;<'ii year many stmlei:•< b. srh.rW but where do they go? Is it to the schools where they can gain the discipline and irstructronf To a greet extent it Tr not. They goto Norrmls of infersr grade, where iiißtrnetio:> outside of the common branches is nothing but a crainmihg process, wiifi no time or chance ot developemcnt,. It is to be regretted that those of cur county, who have taken degree in ins itutions cf low ’ standing requiring a tw > or three years course, did not spend that time in some ;nst;tution of-acknowledged standing, where the expenses \v. uld have been but little more, and the time little if any longer.

in standing the Indiana University is not to be questioned. In the economy of time and nip; ey, it presents unusual advantages. Expanses are ~lpw, a student can attend for as long a jjenod..withjbo.sameAmount_of_Bßincy. as at most-of the Normals. Any student’s expenses need u >t exceed 0 for a college year, Including rail road fare. .In point oi time ...it. depends on the application and Gidigence of the .student. Thirty-six tertns of three studies each are re quired for graduation, so that an energetic student with a limited amount of time,. bj’ carrying lour studies, can coni; 1 -ty the course in three years, or, if he chooses to do more work, in less time. The student ot the Slate. University, is surrounded with, and thrown in moral and religious inti ences at every step. ABd their inliuf cis are so potent faculty do .not have to assume the duties oi a police force in order to guard the student from acts of dissipation, llecents facts go to show as deveiope-d. by the Y. M. C. A., that the moral standard of 1. I’, students is in advance .of some ot the Sectarian Colleges of this state. The Mate Uni versny has p<> room foi dissiuatoi's and pkasure sebkers. Its doors are only open to the earnest, c< :<S‘. ientious student. . ; .

It is ah aeknowl dg d fact that no Institution in the Vv est docs such thorough, and as much work as the State University., This is evident from a notice of the laculty. It is composed of men who have made a life study of their particular departments. Men not only from the great Institutions of learning of. our country, but many have taken degrees, or have studied in the renowned Universities ol Europe. Men of progress,and original thought. Men not only performing the duties of teachers, but enriching the realms of science of with valuable legacies. Strong and vigorous in years, aspiring iu their work, they arc banded together in a, mutual 1 ;ague, striving to lead the mind of the student to the realization of his position in life, and to arm idm with truth that he may go forth, girded and prepareJ for the battle, to accumulate new ideas tor the elevation of bis leliow men. If these few stray thoughts serve to place the Indiana University, in the minds of those that are diposed to read them, in that e light it deserves; «n<l tn lead a uno undecided mind to an institution of recognized siandiug, where they can tit themselves for the problems ot hfe, they wud have aciximpLiSbcdtheirpurpose.

A STUDENT.