^t. Augustine’s; l^ccorit
V^oluiiu! XIjIII
MAY-JUNE, 1!);5«
No. 4
REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT—MAY 25, 1938
To the Trudees of St. Angvstine’s College:
(tKN
TLEMEN :
During the past year there has been a total enroll
ment of 301 students, including puijils in the St.
Training School for Nurses and in the Bishop Tuttle
Training School for Keligious Education and Christian
Social Service. It is interesting to note that 22o stu
dents were enrolled in tlie regular college department,
the same number that were enrolled this year in the
College of Liberal Arts of the University of the South
at Sewanee.
As usual about one-lialf of the students come from
North Carolina, tlie other half from 25 states and
several foreign countries. Texas, Arkansas, Ca i oinia,
Micliigan, Mississippi, and the Virgin Islands are
among the distant points represented. About litty pei
cent of our students are Communicants of our Lliiircii,
coming from oiir Negro parishes in vaiions pai s o
the country. Each year there are some added by con
firmation. St. Augustine’s has as a definite obiectiye
close relatioiisliip with luul strengthening ® ^
that is being done among onr !Negro people t irong ion
the Church.
On January 13th the college celebrated the 70th
Anniversary of its ojiening. It w’as on that a ®
that the Institution opened its doors to a class o oui
pujiils. A cliarter had been secured the previous year
by BishoT) Atkinson of jSTorth Carolina with a gioiip o
]>roininent Churchmen of the State as incoipoia ois.
The anniversary was fittingly observed by a ®
Thanksgiving at which Bishop Penick spo e, an(
on there was a mass meeting with the principa ac les
by Dr. E. George Paine, Assistant Dean of the Schoo
of Education of New York Univeisity am a
friend of the college. We were jdeased to note tliat
beads of the other five colleges in Ivaleig i
at this meeting, four of them in person and tiie oti
through a special representative.
In connection witli the Anniversaiy theie has bee
published a History of St. Augustine s compiled a
'vritten by a member of the Faculty, 1 rofessor Cecil 1 .
Hallil„irton. Professor Halliburton also ^
History of tlie Institution in his address at the Ai i
versary Day Banquet. The History is t le le i
«arefu'l and thorough research studies and ^ ,
excellent picture of the growth of St. Augustine s a
its present status. We commend it to those
interested in the affairs of the college and ^
tory of the Diocese. As Bishop Penick ^
anti,or-“This is one of the few instances ^is orica
sc^holarshi], that has been produced
'vithin recent years. You ha\^ placed the
^-hurch as well as St. Augustine’s College in your de .
During the past year there have met at St. Augus
tine’s the State Public Welfare Institution for Negro
Workers, the Crown and Sceptre State Scholarship
Society and various gatherings of a more informal
nature. The annual St. Augustine’s Conference for
Negro Clergy and Church Workers, including a Young
People’s Conference, which is held early in June, lias
become increasingly effective and well known so that
several dioceses are offering scholarships to it.
At a meeting of the Southern Bishops held in Atlanta
in February it was unanimously recommended that the
Bishop Payne Divinity School of Petersburg, Virginia,
be moved to Kaleigh and located in the vicinity of
St. Augustine’s College. At present the Trustees of
the Bishop Payne School have tlie matter under con
sideration but have not as yet reached a final decision.
Through the aid of the National Youtii Administra
tion we have been able to continue to funiish work to a
number of students who needed this lielp in order to
continue in college. This type of aid, however, is
strictly limited and provides for only a few of those
who apply to us for self-help work.
We find tliat the students are coming to take a
larger share and interest in matters pertaining to the
welfare and progress of the college. The student coun
cil this year has helped to foster this spirit and to
provide occasions for its practical ap])lication. The
observance of St. Augustine’s week was an example of
this.
Athletics, especially intercollegiate competitive ath
letics, present something of a problem for an institution
such as St. Augustine’s with a comparatively small
student body. It is doubtful whether the expense and
strain involved in trying to compete successfully in
such a sport as intercollegiate football are justified
when consideration is given to the ways in which the
effort and money could be expended on lighter sports
and intra-mural competition. Tliis year for instance
St. Augustine’s won the Tennis Championship of the
Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association in both
singles and doubles through the efforts of the two Hunt
brothers who learned their tennis here at the college.
The Athletic Council and numerous thoughtful stu
dents are giving the matter serious attention with the
hope of working out a satisfactory solution.
We are still working on plans that call for co
operation between St. Augustine’s and Shaw Univer
sity, lialeigh, in an effort to strengthen the work of
each institution. The Administration of each college
is definitely in favor of such a plan, although there
are some practical difficulties involved. Whatever is
accomplished will be done slowly and carefully.
We wish to record our appreciation of the gift of
$900 made from tlie United Thank Offering of the
Woman’s Auxiliary for repairs in the Thomas Build
ing (Girls’ Dormitory), which was partly paid for by