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,Gtf 93 
 
 A MEMORIAL 
 
 TO THE 
 
 ^^e^ei^t^ of tl\elJr\ivef^ity 
 
 OF THE STATE OF lO'WA, 
 
 THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 
 
 Of the Board of Trustees of Griswold College. 
 
 DAVENPORT, IOWA. 
 
 DAVENPORT, IOWA. 
 GLOBE PRINTING COMPANY, 
 
 1877. 
 
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 To the Honorable the Board of Regents of the University 
 of the State of Iowa : 
 
 Gentlemen : At a late meeting 
 of the Board of Trustees of Griswold 
 College, held in the City of Daven- 
 port, the following resolutions were 
 unanimously adopted, to wit : 
 
 Resolved, That the Executive Commit- 
 tee be authorized and instructed to memo- 
 rialize the Board of Regents of the Uni- 
 versity of the State of Iowa, to take such 
 action, after mutual conference and agree- 
 ment with the said Executive Committee, 
 — the said action to be finally approved by 
 this Board, whereby on the graduation 
 of students in Arts and Science in Gris- 
 wold College, the degree of A. B. or B. S. 
 shall be conferred on the terms established 
 by the University Professors, and only af- 
 ter examinations, written or oral, conduct- 
 ed by, or in accordance with the instruc- 
 tions of, the said University Faculty, em- 
 powered to confer the said degrees ; it be- 
 ing understood and stipulated that the 
 said degrees, when thus conferred, shall be 
 given by the University over and above 
 their bestowal by Griswold College. 
 
 I?esolved, That in this effort to secure 
 affiliation with the University of the State, 
 the Board of Trustees of Griswold College 
 pledge themselves, on re-opening the Col- 
 lege committed to their charge, to provide 
 such a course of instruction, and to give 
 evidence of such sympathy with the high- 
 est education, as to render this affiliation 
 a proof of the interest of the said Trus- 
 tees and the Church they represent, in the 
 advance of education and culture through- 
 out the State, to their highest possible de- 
 velopment. 
 
 In compliance with these instruc- 
 tions and heartily endorsing and se- 
 
 conding their intent, the Executive 
 Committee would respectfully ask of 
 the Regents of the University that 
 kind consideration of their proposi- 
 tion which the importance of the sub- 
 ject at issue certainly demands. 
 
 The existence within the State of 
 eighteen so-called Universities or Col- 
 leges, largely denominational in their 
 origin and constituency, with varying 
 standards of scholarship and each 
 and all alike possessing the degree- 
 giving power, cannot but render all 
 efforts for the establishment of a uni- 
 form and high standard of educational 
 attainment as contemplated by the 
 University practically inoperative. 
 Too often the degree will be sought 
 where it can most readily be obtained. 
 The exaction of a high standard of 
 attainment, as a prerequisite to grad- 
 uation by the University, can and will 
 at present affect only those who from 
 love of study and free from the in- 
 fluence of denominational prejudice 
 personally attend the University and 
 avail themselves of its superior priv- 
 ileges. Could the University be mul- 
 tiplied and its advantages be offered 
 at each of the many educational 
 centres now existing w^ithin the 
 State, it would certainly be product- 
 ive of far greater good than is novi^ 
 possible. Is it not practicable to se- 
 cure such a result? It is not essential 
 
A MEMORIAL 
 
 
 to the idea of a State University that 
 its instructions should be given, and 
 its curriculum maintained, in any 
 particular place. The University of 
 the State of New York, for example, 
 has neither buildings nor Instructors, 
 yet, by availing itself of the various 
 Colleges, established under local or 
 denominational influences in the 
 State, it maintains a high and uniform 
 standard of scholarship throughout 
 the State ; and, year by year, in the 
 annual repoi'ts of its regents, contri- 
 butes in a marked degree to the edu- 
 cational advance of the land.* The 
 ancient Universities of Oxford and 
 Cambridge, not content with gather- 
 ing their students in centres which 
 have been hallowed by the pre- 
 sence and toil of scholars for near- 
 ly a thousand years, are seeking 
 to establish all over the United King- 
 dom educational centres under their 
 control where the same instruction in 
 whole or in part will be given and 
 the University degrees, at least in great 
 part, earned. The fact of the exist- 
 ence of these scattered and often rival 
 educational institutions being admit- 
 ted, the question for our American 
 educators seems to be : Can there be 
 attained by their united and uniform 
 efforts the grand result which the 
 State University is felt and known to 
 have in view .^ Can steps be taken 
 whereby a degree from each and 
 every College in Iowa shall represent 
 a certain and well defined amount of 
 
 * " The University of the State of New York 
 though generally regarded as a Legal Fiction, is, 
 in truth, a grand reality The numerous institutions 
 of which it is composed are indeed not, as in Eng- 
 land, crowded into a single city, but are scattered, 
 for popular convenience over the entire State." — P. 
 532, Report of Regents for 1875 
 
 attainment in learning and letters, 
 and the standard of the State Uni- 
 versity be thus maintained through- 
 out the State } 
 
 Your Memorialists respectfully 
 submit that they believe this result to 
 be both ossible and eminently de- 
 sirable. With a view to bring about 
 this result they respectfully propose 
 in the reopening of the College un- 
 der their charge, which will take 
 place the present year, to surren- 
 der the exercise of their power of 
 granting the degrees of B. A. and 
 B. S., i. e. : the graduating de- 
 grees, save on terms to be deter- 
 mined by the Faculty of the State 
 University and after Examinations, 
 conducted either by representatives 
 of the said Faculty of the State Uni- 
 versity in person, or in such strict 
 accordance w^ith their requirements 
 as to meet fully and without any re- 
 servation the prerequisite standard of 
 the University. And they ask of the 
 Regents that upon the Students of 
 Griswold College who shall, after ex- 
 aminations conducted as aforesaid, 
 fulfil these requirements, as prescrib- 
 ed by the Faculty of the University, for 
 graduation either in Arts or Science, 
 there shall be given by the Authori- 
 ties of the University the degree to 
 which they have proved themselves 
 entitled. To eflfect this result, as will 
 be seen at a glance, a course of study 
 and a standard of instruction must be 
 maintained at Griswold College equi- 
 valent to that offered at the Universi- 
 ty. Practically therefore it will be 
 the addition to the State University, 
 and in closest affiliation with it, of a 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 A MEMORIAL 
 
 well-officered and thoroughly efficient 
 co-worker in the educational field. 
 
 There can be little hazard in grant- 
 ing so simple a request. If the grad- 
 uates of Griswold College are not 
 able to pass the Examinations pre- 
 scribed by the State University they 
 will fail to receive a graduating de- 
 gree. If they are able to pass these 
 examinations they are unquestionably 
 entitled to that recognition of their 
 attainments on the part of the State, 
 they would secure if, in place of a 
 course of study at Griswold College, 
 they had taken a similar course at 
 Iowa City. "Griswold" would sus- 
 tain the relation to the University that 
 "Baliol" or " Brasenose" or "Christ 
 Church" Colleges at Oxford, and " St. 
 John's " and " Trinity " at Cambridge, 
 do to their respective Universities. It 
 would prepare its men for the Uni- 
 versity examinations and would be 
 at pains to do it well. Its teaching, 
 and the application and success of its 
 students would be ever on trial be- 
 fore an impartial tribunal. It would 
 attest its hearty interest in the work 
 . of thorough education by courting the 
 fullest scrutiny and by claiming no- 
 thing which it did not fairly earn. 
 
 Nor would this step be without re- 
 sults in inciting a generous emulation 
 among other local and denomination- 
 al colleges throughout the State to 
 reach the same standard of educa- 
 tion and thus secure similar terms from 
 the State University. Our State sys- 
 tem of education would soon com- 
 prise all the educational institutions 
 that were capable of imparting an 
 instruction worth the seeking. 
 
 029 927 011 7 4f\ 
 
 The details of this plan may safel}^ 
 be left for further consideration if the 
 general outlines of this scheme of 
 affiliation with the State educational 
 system are approved. The Execu- 
 tive Committee of the Board of Trus- 
 tees of Griswold College, in present- 
 ing this memorial, respectfully beg 
 this general approval of their propo- 
 sition, and the appointment of a com- 
 mittee on the part of the Regents to 
 which, in connection with a commit- 
 tee of their own body, the perfecting 
 of this scheme shall be entrusted. 
 
 With the most unfeigned respect 
 for the Honorable Board to which 
 they present this, their unanimous pe- 
 tition, your memorialists beg to sub- 
 scribe themselves, 
 
 Respectfully, 
 THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 
 
 of the Board of Trustees 
 of Grisiuold College by 
 
 William Stevens Perry, 
 
 Bislwp of Iowa and President of the Board. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES. 
 
 At a meeting of the Executive 
 Committee of the Board of Trustees 
 of Griswold College, on motion, it 
 was unanimously 
 
 Resolved, That the Memorial to the Re- 
 gents of the University of the State of 
 Iowa, presented by the President of the 
 Board, be and is hereby adopted, and that 
 the President be appointed a Committee 
 of the Executive Committee to present the 
 same to the Regents of the University. 
 
 Attest : William Stevens Perry, 
 
 President of the Board, 
 
HoUir 
 P 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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