1922 Cedrus Yearbook

The Ideals of a Small College 0 HIO is the Mother of Presidents and the Paradise of Small Colleges. In 1920 the candidates Of both great parties and the candidate of one of the minor parties hailed from this commonwealth. This only emphasized the fact that by far the greater number of chief executives of this nation were either born in Ohio or elected when citizens thereof, than has been the case With any other state. Ohio also has more colleges than any other state; over fifty institutions grant the bachelor's degree. Is there no connection between these two laurels of honor worn by the state? They are cause and effect. The small college makes for independence of character, efficiency, practicality, the ability to get things done. In the small school every student is known, and known well, both to teachers and to fellow-students. There- fore, to stand well in his little world, the student must eradicate from his make-up all shoddy material. He must be what he seems. This thorough, radical reconstruction of his character, undergone in the formative period, is what makes the MAN who in after life must meet the fierce tests of competition. In larger institutions a student may shine in certain aspects; and, because only small facets of his character are exposed to view, can at the same time be developing hidden weaknesses that afterwards unfit him for life's battles, however brilliant his attainments in some particulars. Students are treated in the mass and sprinkled liberally with the culture that is supposed to prepare them for life. In the small school the useless and cumbering branches are pruned away and those things are grafted securely in that cannot help but make the fruit good. Again, the small colleges rake the fence corners for likely talent that the larger schools despise. And talent that in larger schools is neglected, because more showy talent outshines it, is in the smaller college utilized and developed. But this slower talent that is crowded out in the student's activities and even in the class room work of the large college, is more lasting and substantial. In after life it, and not the other, gets results. Then, in larger schools, it is organization and numbers that count. In the small college, it is personal effort and personality and knowledge of human nature that count. But, contrary to common opinion, these are the great motive forces of life. The close personal contacts of the small school are the best preparation for the activities of the world. The danger of the small college is provincialism. Those who attend are usually of one race, social class, nationality, faith, and practice. They are likely to think too much alike; and, in so doing, to imagine that all who differ from them are wrong. This, however, is an evil that can be escaped. Teachers and pupils should guard against narrow-mindedness and selfish exclusiveness. It can be done. Jesus lived in a little country not as large as one of our states, but his mind went back to the early sages and prophets of his race,forward to "the end of the age," upward far above the stars, downward into the depths of the universal human heart, outward to the sheep of every fold. By cultivating reverence for truth wherever found, unselfish love for humankind, and devotion to the Father of all, the student in the small college can be as cosmopolitan as any trained in the great universities. And though he sees widely, his individuality is not dwarfed by the bigness of the universe; but, having mastered his microcosm, the small college, it goes forth to conquer other worlds, expanded, quickened, hardened, and tempered to meet every foe. Therefore, the graduate of the small college survives when others fail. Prof. Leroy Allen. 84