Page Two
THE
PUS ECHO
Wednesday, March 2, 1938
The Campus Echo
Vol. 2 No. 5
Durham, N. C., March 2, 1938
Published monthly by the
North Carolina College
Subscription, 50 cents for the
school year
EDITORIAL STAFF
Facitli'y
President James E. Shepard, C. G.
O’Kelly, J. T. Taylor, A. Heningburg,
Miss Ruth G. Rush, Miss Pauline
Newton, Mrs. E. Lucille Jackson,
Miss Cee Vee Harris, Miss Margaret
L. De Mond.
Students
Melvin Sykes, Howard Alston, George
Norman, Charles C. Graves, Laurence
Lightner, David B. Cooke, Miss
Juanita Yeates, Miss Dorothy Whit-
ted. Miss Mattie C. Laws, Miss
Christine Harrington.
The Function Of
The Negro College
It is my belief that the function
of the Negro college is not different
from that of any other higher insti
tution. There is no such thing as
“Negro Education.” There is educa
tion of Negroes; but there is no spe
cial brand of teaching or of learning
peculiarly fitted to the Negro, as
though he were somehow different
from other human beings.
This does not mean that the Negro
college is to be an imitation of other
colleges. We'ought to be able to avoid
some of the errors made by. other
educators; and we ought to be able
to adapt our methods to the demand
of the present and the future. The
difference between the Negro college
and other colleges will not be due to
the alleged peculiarities in racial
characteristics, but to proficiency in
educational technique. Therefore the
progressive Negro college may be
somewhat differently organized or
managed, not because its function is
different but because it has discov-
..ered a better way to perform that
function, Miich is to educate.
Thp fuiASt' '1 of *hp NTogrn -«vll
^aucnG t>ut wnat is education?
What is the function of the Liberal
college? The question is not so sim
ple.
A few years ago, before the eco
nomic situation of today becalmed
us, a great many educators and stu
dents seemed to think that a good
education was the means towards a
good bank account. They said, “It
pays to go to college.” The degree
was supposed to be the earnest of
financial dividends; the diploma was
valued as a kind of rabbit’s foot, sup
posed to bring good fortune. But if
the depression has done nothing less
it has punctured this balloon of false
hood. It is estimated that there are
more than 10,000 persons in New
York City alone who are eligible for
membership in the Association of
Unemployed College Alumni. There
is nothing automatic about the way
in which a college education opens
doors to successful careers. Of course,
it should be true that persons who
have the ability to shine in academic
circles should be able to use that
ability in professional life. College
training should give better command
of intellectual capacities. But the
point is that whatever financial value
the college degree may have is en
tirely incidental.
There is another group of persons
who expects the college to function
not as a business school but as a kind
of young ladies’ finishing school. The
college is to teach them how to move
in polite society, what to say at the
right moment, what to wear and how
to wear it, when to tell white lies,
and how to shake hands gracefully.
We should be the first to plead
for the cultivation of the graces of
genuine culture and good breeding.
There is no point in being a boor.
The college should afford full oppor
tunity for its students to acquire an
intelligent appreciation of beauty and
goodness and propriety. A man is not
educated if he is illiterate in these
things. But once again, these things
which mark the man of culture and
good breeding are by-products of the
educative process. The principal
function of the college is not this
veneering business. The natural wood
is itself beautiful, if genuinely treat
ed. Culture is the natural flowering
of the cultivated spirit. And as such
it is a legitimate by-product of a
liberal education, while at the same
time, there are other things which
are necessary to insure healthy
growth.
The purposes of a college are rela
tive to the needs of those whom it
is to serve, and particularly relative
to the social situation in which the
college is set. That does not mean
that there are different kinds of edu-
caiton for different social groups. It
means that an intelligently conceived
college will aim to meet the needs of
the kind of world which it confronts.
We should be independent in ar
riving at our judgments, intelligent
in formulating them, and honest,
both in defending and in relinquish
ing them.
In place of the narrow and self-
centered ambitions which seem so
largely to determine the actions
both of men and of races, we must
cultivate a wideness of spirit and ur
banity of temperatment, even more,
a burning passion for humanity.
The Liberal college should culti
vate both the scientific temper and
the religious spirit, liberating the
leaders of the races from herd-
mindedness and selfishness, sending
forth young men and young women
of intelligence and passion to carry
on the struggle for freedom. If the
Negro college discharges this func
tion, it will become increasingly diffi
cult for an illiberal society to con-
inequalities and iniquities.
—Ernestine Frederick.
The B.A. Degree
Speaking recently at a public lec
ture at the University of Chicago,
Dean Works recommended that
Bachelors’ degrees be granted at the
end of the junior-college period. This
proposal follows the prediction made
editorially in the Journal of Higher
Education in 1931.*
Developing his thesis. Dean Works
spoke in part as follows;
“Today there are a considerable
number of colleges of liberal arts that
do not have resources with which to
maintain even a moderately good
institution. These institutions have
been in difficulty for years. Their
position is being made increasingly
hard by the common requirement of
the Master’s degree for secondary
teaching.
If this proposal to grant the Bach
elor’s degree at the end of the junior-
college period were generally accept
ed, undoubtedly a considerable num
ber of these colleges would become
junior colleges. This would be much
wiser than for them to continue as
they are, or to attempt to offer the
Master’s degree. It does not neces
sarily follow that an institution which
has served society well should be
continued after changed conditions
no longer leave a place for it.”
Dean Works agreed that the
greatest objection to the proposed
change in the awarding of a Bach
elor’s degree would be its effect on
colleges of liberal arts which are not
a part of a university, but contended
that educational changes are inevi
table and that these institutions must
respond to them.
“The basic forces that are influ
encing the development of the junior
/greeableness
Alue Lucile Oakley
If you s’e looking for a job it may
interest yiu to hear what the one
quality witch employers the world
over want most. It is agreeableness.
AgreeabljJess is the diamond
among virues, for it is the most
precious aid rarest of all.
It is wo’th money; for it sells
more real e-.tate, cigars, groceries, dry
goods, aut Mobiles, typewriters, furn
iture, and ife insurance than any
amount of smooth talk and con
vincing argiments.
Just be pleasant, and you can
walk away with a contract right
under the lose of the man who
knows it al.
Smile! Lot once in a while, so
that you lonk like it hurts you when
you force a grin. But get the habit.
Smile to yiurself when you are
shaving or d;essing. Then it will come
natural whjn you use it trying to
sell a washing machine.
Be AGREEABLE! And you will
be in demand. For in every walk of
life they are crying for the agreeable
person.
Every wile Nvants that kind of a
husband, husbands want that kind of
wife; children want agreeable par
ents, the woikman an agreeable boss,
the boss an igreeable workman, and
everybody w^ts agreeable relatives.
We want agreeable hired girls, ho
tel clerks, teachers, policemen, jani
tors, icemen,'ushers, preachers, gov
ernors, and hankers.
Come, be agreeable, for you will
have little competition, and are pret
ty sure to sutceed.
An agreeable person lights up the
room like a lamp.
He is like the shade of a big tree
on a hot day.
He is like :he drink of something
that tinkles iiithe pitcher when you
are real thii*^
HedS'likdSP^'when yoii are lone
some, bed wmcn you’re tired, a breeze
when you’re stifling, food when you
are empty, and money when you’re
broke.
Life’s a mix-up, anyway, that none
of us understand. There are all sorts
of inexplicable thorns and tragedies,
buffets and chagrins. And most people
are a bit sorry for themselves. Hence,
ugly.
The Value of Counting
Chickens Before Hatched
What are you planning to do after
you finish school? Many of you are
planning to be teachers, to be stenog
raphers, to be nurses, to be doctors,
or to do graduate work in universi
ties. Just this one fact is counting
your chickens before they are
hatched. You probably didn’t connect
this saying with your hopes for the
future; but after all you don’t know
whether your plans will be completed
or whether you will become a victim
of circumstance. Your chickens hav
en’t as yet been hatched. In this
counting you have a value for if you
hadn’t a vision or illusion you
wouldn’t strive to make something of
yourself. Therefore the first value of
counting chickens before they are
hatched is, it gives one the chance
to make or set a goal to work forward
to. You must have a goal before you
can start working for a definite place
in the field in which you wish to be
come known.
Take Abraham Lincoln as an ex
ample. I am certain he counted his
chickens, since his training wasn’t of
the very best and since he hadn’t the
proper implements with which he
could work, and often became dis
couraged; but the most admirable
thing about Lincoln was the way he
fought on through hardship and toil.
This brings another value before us.
Counting chickens gives one the de
termination and backbone to with
stand all toil and hardship until he
has reached his goal with success,
and then he continues to strive to
hold that place by bettering himself
in his field.
college are at work regardless of the
level at which the degree is awarded.
It seems probable that the independ
ent college will continue to change in
response to these forces, and the pro
posal that forms the theme of this
discussion seems unlikely to have an
adverse influence; it would only serve
to clarify the relationship among our
several types of higher institutions.”
Dean Works took the position that
the award of the A.B. degree at the
end of the junior-college period would
untangle the present educational
knot, caused by the rapid growth of
the junior college and the significance
the Master’s degree is beginning to
assume.
“The first of the two most marked
breaks in the scheme of higher educa
tion is at the end of the period of
general education and the beginning
of specialization which by general
acceptance in this country comes at
the end of the junior college period.
“The second occurs at the transi
tion from the mastery of a relatively
restricted field of knowledge to the
attempt on the part of the student to
demonstrate his ability to make an
independent contribution to knowl
edge in the special field. These two
transition periods would appear to
call for the degree of Bachelor of
Arts and the Master’s degree, respec
tively. The doctorate would come
with the demonstration of ability to
do independent research.”
We have an example nearer than
that which all of us know about bet
ter than Abraham Lincoln, one that
is very near and has meant and still
means a lot to every one that comes
in contact with thi&xollege. Tfeis ex
ample is Dr. James E. Shepard. Do
you recall of his telling of how he
stood with his brother by the bell
tower several years ago and told how
this college, much smaller than it is
now, would progress and become
known among the many Negro col
leges of the world? Dr. Shepard
wasn’t sure whether his chickens
would hatch or not but decided to
make all the effort he could to hatch
this large chicken. While talking to
Dr. Shepard you can detect a third
value received from the counting of
chickens. After you set your goal, by
working through the hardship and
toil, you make your goal enjoyable.
Be able to enjoy the hardship and
toil that you are now striving
through, and I am sure that your
chickens will be hatched with great
values.
—Emily Ferguson.
HABIT
“When you feel too old to do a
thing, then get up and do it,” said
an elderly clergyman. This is equiva
lent to the advice of Professor James
that—“by a little gratuitious effort
every day” we keep alive in ourselves
the habit of forming habits. Our in
stincts we get by inheritance, as we
get our relatives, but our habits we
acquire for ourselves “by a little
gratuitious effort every day.”
* * *
“It is a funny thing, but true
That folks you don’t like, don’t like
you;
I don’t know why this should be so.
But just the same I always know
If I am ‘sour’, friends are few;
If I am friendly, folks are too.
Sometimes I get up in the morn
A-wishin’ I was never born;
I make of cross remarks a few;
And then my family wishes, too.
That I had gone some other place
Instead of showing them my face.
But let me change my little tune.
And sing and smile, then pretty soon
The folks around me sing and smile;
I guess ’twas catchin’ all the while.
Yes, it’s a funny thing, but true.
That folks you like will sure like
you.”
* * *
No person ever develops master
ship who doesn’t indulge in what
may appear to be drudgery. Whethe:
it really is drudgery or somethin]
finer depends upon the thinking and
feeling that accompanies the action.
Failure As Necessary To
Success
Dr. Chidley Presents Series
of Lectures at N. C. College
Dr. Howard J. Chidley, pastor of
the First Congregational Church of
Winchester, Massachusetts, complet
ed a series of five inspiring addresses
in this college on February 9. Stu
dents and teachers found themselves
challenged by Dr. Chidley’s address
on “The Quality of Mercy.”
“Lest we understand something of
the quality of mercy,” he said, “much
of what we proudly call our civiliza
tion in striking fashion, through the
lives of four great men, the invest
ment of influence.” Dr. Chidley, who
has been known for more than a
quarter of a century for his interest
in the education of Negroes, was
formerly the Chairman of the Board
of Trustees of North Carolina Col
lege for Negroes, and has been an
annual visitor for more than twenty
years.
One writer has said, “Here’s to the
men who lose.” Failure is very neces
sary to success in many cases. A man
who is aiming at success will reach
much higher goals if he once fails. He
may feel that he is the best in his
profession and nill
slow progress until he meets with
some competition.
Joe Louis, the great heavyweight
prize fighter, was well on the road
to success. No doubt, since he had
won all of his previous fights, he
probably felt sure that he would win
over Max Schmeling. His being de
feated made him strive much harder
to rebuild his reputation and to reach
his goal.
Once a student in a commercial
school had much difficulty with his
shorthand. He tried very hard to
learn it but all of his attempts seemed
in vain. At the end of the semester,
he failed the course and decided to
leave school. His teacher told him
that at the rate he was going, he
would never be able to write short
hand. She advised him to study ten
times harder than the average person.
Taking the advice of his instructor,
this student studied ten times harder;
re-read his book continuously and
practiced making shorthand signs.
Feeling that he was now capable of
doing well in this subject, this am
bitious student returned to school.
This time he made very good marks
and graduated with honors. Today he
has the job as court reporter in one
of the largest cities in the state. This
student was another one of the mil
lion people to succeed through failure.
If, instead of failing, he had made
a low but passing mark for the se
mester, probably he never would
have studied as hard as he did. His
failure gave him something to strive
for and by it he profited and suc
ceeded.
■—Mae Bertha Bryant.
They only the victory win
Who have fought the good fight
And have vanquished the demon
That tempts us within.
•—Browning.