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Vol.11. UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, CHAPEL HILL ,'H.jC, SATURDAY , JUNE 13,1903. No. 30.
1 ;
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION BUILDING EDITION.
Y; M; C A. BUILDING, ASSOCIATION WORIG
The University Association to Have Quarters of
Its Own
Strong, Earnest Effort Will be Made During the Summer to Secure
the Much-Needed Building for the Y. M. C. A.
at the University,
There are two great things that determine character heredity and envir
onment. A young fellow comes to college with his character already partly
formed what is born in him cannot be rooted out of him. Then the other
part of his character will be molded by his environment during his stay here
in college. The Young Men's Christian Association aims to supply this en
vironment. It tries to surround the boy with the best influences. It gives
him clean, pleasant, wholesome companions; it tries to get him in the best
neighborhood where he will be subjected to the fewest temptations; it in
duces him to come out to religious meetings where the talking, singing and
praying are done by young fellows of his own age. -
But there is one great hindrance to this work, and the Association has
been laboring under this handicap for many years. It has no building of its
own. It has no place where the new man can come and find help in getting
settled; it has no place where it can take the homesick Freshman and intro
duce him to pleasant, congenial companions who will join with him in pleas
ant games and cause him to forget his loneliness; it has no place where it can
hold its devotional meetings, its Bible study and mission classes, its officers'
conferences, etc., in peace and quiet. For many years the Association has
had to meet where it could, in the Chapel, in lecture rooms, wherever there
was no other meeting in progress.
But now the time has come when the Association feels that this state
of affairs can go on no longer. We must have a building.
., - For several years the Association has been trying to raise funds. Let
ters have been sent out time and time again, circulars have been mailed,
plans drawn up over and over. The result has been an accumulation
of $1700 which is out drawing 4 per cent, interest, so it has not been
lost.
However, we have at last come to see that the requisite sura, $10,000, can
not be raised by mere letters and appeals through the mail. The conviction
has grown upon us that this money can be raised only by a personal canvass.
And so the Association has selected three men to tour the State during the
summer and collect the necessary funds. They are Messrs. R. M. Harper,
president of the Association, Z. V. Judd, retiring vice-present, and C. P.
Russell, corresponding secretary. These three with President Venable, Prof.
Gore and Prof. Alexander constitute the building committee. All funds will
be immediately deposited with Mr. W. T. Patterson, bursar of the Universi
ty. The building will be started on the 12th of October, 1903.
The amount the Association asks for is $10,000. The University with
the largest Association in the State and as the head of the State's education
al system should properly have the largest and most complete college Y. M.
C. A. building in the State, and we call upon all loyal alumni of the Univer
sity, all interested in the welfare of young men, and all friends of Christ
ianity wherever they may be, to support and assist us in this great
work.
I most heartily commend the effort
to complete the fund for the Y. M. C.
A. building. For more than ten years
the project has languished with about
one-third of the necessary amount col
lected and subscribed. Meanwhile the
Association has suffered in efficiency.
It is altogether unworthy of the Uni
versity that this strong and most use
ful band of Christian workers should
have no recognized building of their
own, with assembly hall, class rooms
and library. The University has been
able to allow them one headquarters
room only, as it was impossible to spare
other rooms. regard the activity of
this Asssociation as one of the most help
ful influences m the University. They
must have fitting quarters for their
work, and I concur in their appeal to
all friends of young men, lovers of
Christianity, and loyal sons of the Uni
versity. F. P. Venable,
President of the University.
The aims and efficiency of the Young
Men's Christian Association are hearti
ly endorsed by President, Faculty and
Alumni. The religious life of the
University is largely dependent upon
and radiates from our Association. The
active membership has shown the
spirit of self-sacrifice and devotion to
the noble work of the organization.
They have won our admiration and the
cause they are engaged in deserves the
cooperation and help of all who value
educated Christian Manhood.
The pressing need of the Association
is a building, a home for the organi
zation, a focus for the religious activi
ties of the University, which will great
ly enhance the labors of this body of
young men, who are giving freely of
themselves for others.
J. W. Gore.
Prof, of Physics.
The Work of the Young Men's Christian Associ
ation for the Year I902-'03,
Religious Meetings, Systematic Bible Study, New Life for Sunday
Schools, Mission Study Class Organized.
' Gifts to Missions.
t
The work of the Young Men's Christian Association of the University
during the past year may be summed up in what is suggested in the term
practical every day religion. Many things, it is true, which should have
been done, has been left undone, and of course when the Association is viewed
from the standpoint of opportunity, the work may not seem to be so great.
It must be remembered, however, that the college association differs much
from other organized Christian work in that it changes leaders each year,
and in the case of the Y. M. C. A. at the University, each new set of leaders
has to begin work anew, and not where their predecessors left off, mainly
because there is no permanent home for the Association.
.' ' RELIGIOUS MEETINGS.
Two religious meetings are held each week, one in the Chapel on Tues
day night, which is a half hour long, the other, a prayer meeting ten min
utes long, is held in the Y. M. C. A. room each Thursday night. Business
meetings of the cabinet and chairman of the committees were held each
week during the past year. Several of the faculty, among whom were Prof
essor II. H. Williams, Dr. C. Alphonso Smith and Dr. Thos. Hume, have
made strong addresses at the regular Tuesday night meeting.. Among some
of the students who have made talks are Chas. Ross, G. P. Stevens, II. R.
McFadyen, E- McDonald, C. C. Barnhardt, W. J. Gordon, B. F. lluskc, E.
S. W. Dameron, C. P. Russell, and . V. Judd.
BIBLE STUDY.
Bible study is the pivotal point of the Young Men's Christian Association.
During the past year eighty men were enrolled in the seven Bible Study
classes, in daily systematic study of the Bible. These classes meet once a
week for class work under guidance of the following student-leaders: Z. V.
Judd, H. R. McFadyen, G. P. Stevens, R. M. Harper, W. J. Gordon, J. B.
Robertson, C. C. Barnhardt, and Chas. Ross. Eighty students were enrolled
in these courses and the attendance on the whole was good. One great ob
stacle in keeping up class attendance to a higher per cent is that the Associ
ation has no rooms that can be used for Bible study only. The University
very kindly lends the recitation rooms in the Alumni building to the Asssoci
ation each Sunday but they are not suited to the needs of the work, and classes
cannot thrive as much as they would with regular rooms of their own.
SUNDAY SCHOOLS.
Four Sunday Schools near Chapel Hill and at the chapel near Lloyd's
Mill are helped, and in a majority of cases taught and managed by members
of the Young Men's Christian Association. Some of these schools have had
different forms of entertainment provided, and only two weeks ago the Sun
day School near Clark's Spring had a picnic at which Mr. Chas. Ross, the
retiring secretary of the Association and a former member of the General
Assembly, spoke to the people on "Education." The address was plain and
practical and greatly appreciated. Members of the Association arranged for
music and refreshments, the people in the country made swings, cleaned off
the ground and brought one of Orange county's best dinners. As a result
the picnic was a happy combination of events, and in the words of one mem
ber of the Sunday School, who had never been to a picnic before in his life,
"the picnic showed me and my wife and my son John and his four can get
more out of life by mixing up with other people." One not acquainted with
the condition of the people around Chapel Hill can hardly imagine what these
little entertainments mean in their monotonous lives and what a new out
look on life it gives them. Mr. E. S. W. Dameron with the assistance of F.
S. Hudson, who recently died, had charge of the Sunday School work, and
during the last fall kept the schools in touch with each other by visiting one
each Sunday.
MISSIONS.
The mission department of the Association has been under the direction
of Mr. J. K. Ross, chairman of the Mission Committee, and also a student
volunteer. Mr. Ross taught a class studying missionary heroes in the fall,
and in the spring an introduction to foreign missions. About seventy-five
dollars has been subscribed by the students and faculty for the Brockm?n
Fund for missions, and most of this amount has been collected. This money
was given mostly in small sums, ten, fifteen and twenty-five cents a mont'i
and in some cases fifty cents and one dollar a month.