 | Board of Visitors minutes November 15, 1883 |  |
Present: Wyatt M. Elliott, Rector; and Messrs Bell, Ruggles,
Hansbrough, and Colo G.T.Barbee, who, by appointment
of the Governor, takes the place of Judge Paul, resigned.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved.
Colo Barbee was appointed a member of the following
Committee on Grounds and Buildings, and the Committee on
Examination of Students.
Resolved, That in the appointment of a person to fill
the Chair of Chemistry in the University of Viginia, recently
vacated by the resignation of Prof: John W. Mallet, this Board
has the exclusive right of selection and appointment.
The undersigned members of the Committee on Schools
respectfully submit that they have considered the subject
with which they have been charged so far as limited opportunities
have enabled them to do so; and report
1st That the manifest design of the late Samuel Miller,
whose philanthropic bequest for the support and maintenance
of a School of Experimental and Practical Agriculture to be
established at and in the University of Virginia by the authorities
thereof, the course and methods of instruction in said
School to be prescribed and regulated by the proper authorities
of the said University, has not been realized during
the preceding administration of the said fund, but has lain
dormant through unproductive management, disclosing the
shadow instead of the spirit of industrial progress.
2nd The undersigned members of your Committee therefore
respectfully recommend that a cordial conference be held
between the Proctor and Visitors of the University of Virginia
and the trustees of the Miller Fund, or a Committee of each,
as may be preferred, at the earliest day practicable for the
reorganization of said School and the administration of its
interests in conformity with the intentions of the
Philanthropic donor, and the achievements of Agricultural
Committee: Messrs Ruggles, Bell and Hansbrough.
Committee on part of Miller Board: Mr Slaughter, President,
and Messrs Barbour and Minor.
Present: Messrs Ruffin and Taylor
Colo: Barbee presented the name and credentials of
Prof Woodville Latham for the Chair of Chemistry, and requested
that the fact be noted in the minutes, which is
accordingly done.
Genl: Ruggles nominated Prof C.W. Dabney for the Chair
of Chemistry, and voted for him.
Whereas, a vacancy exists in the Professorship of
Chemistry in this University by the regignation of Dr John W.
Mallet, now a Professor in the University of Texas, and whereas,
Prof: Mallet is now an applicant for election to fill the said
vacancy on condition that he receive the same emoluments he
formerly received, and perform the same duties he formerly
performed as such professor, and on the further condition
that he be allowd until the first day of July before entering
on the discharge of his duties, Therefore,
Resolved, That the said Dr John W. Mallet be and he is
hereby unanimously elected to fill the Professorship of
Chemistry in this University on the foregoing terms and
conditions.
The undersigned to whom was referred the letter of
resignation of B.R. Eddins, dated November 15, 1883, as
considered the same, and recommend that said resignation
be received to take effect the first of December. They also
recommend Wm: P. Mayo as a fit person to supply the place of
Purveyor as aforesaid, and that he enter upon the discharge
of his duties as such on said first day of December.
(Signed) John W. Bell
Wm: Roane Ruffin.
Whereupon, Wm. P. Mayo is hereby declared to be
Purveyor of Supplies from December 1, 1883.
Adjourned till tomorrow morning at Ten O.Clock
William Lamb
Rector pro-tem.
Present: Wyatt M. Elliott, Rector, and Messrs Ruggles,
Bell, Hansbrough, Ruffin and Barbee.
Whereas, it appears from Section 3, Faculty Report,
November 15, 1883, that pending the vacancy (so far) in the
professorship of Chemistry, Prof Dunnington has, in addition
to the duties of his own department of Analytical Chemistry,
been delivering lectures with great acceptability to the
students; and whereas, some time will elapse before Dr John
W. Mallet, who has been elected to fill that vacancy, will
be able to enter upon the discharge of his duties. Therefore,
be it
Resolved, That Prof Dunnington be authorized to act
as professor of Chemistry until Dr Mallet enter upon his
duties, and that he be paid for his services, in addition
to his salary as Adjunct Professor the sum of $200, per
chemical assistance as he shall find to be necessary.
Whereas, it is proposed to build by general subscription
for the uses of the University a separate Chapel to be
placed on such site of the grounds of this Institution as
may be designated by this Board: Therefore,
Resolved, That such Chapel may be erected on such site
of said grounds as my be designated by the Committee on Grounds
and Buildings and approved by the Executive Committee; but
that its erection shall be made under the general supervision
of the Proctor and the Chairman of the Faculty.
Resolved, That the recommendation contained in section
5, Faculty Report, November 15, 1883, as to Practical
Astronomy be adopted; and that a prescribed course in
Practical Astronomy, to be agreed upon in a conference of
the Professors interested, be considered as the equivalent
of the graduate course in either Mathematics or Natural
Philosophy for graduates in these schools, who are offering
for a Doctorate.
Whereas, it appears from section Six, Faculty Report,
November 15, 1883, that one of the three Miller Scholarships,
authorized by law to be offered annually on competitive
examination, namely, what is called the Post-Graduate
Scholarship, was not granted at the close of the last session
on account of the failure of the candidate to obtain the required
standard, and that the money belonging to this
scholarship ($333.1/3) remains in the treasury unused:
Therefore,
Resolved, for the reasons assigned in said section,
that the Faculty be authorized to grant a Miller Scholarship
obtained the mark of 924 in the recent examinations for
what are called the two annual scholarships.
On motion of G. W. Hansbrough.
Resolved, That the recommendation concerning Candidates
for the Master's Degree, which is contained in section 8,
Faculty Report, November 15, 1883, be adopted; and that the
Master's Degree be conferred on W.H. Snook, R. C. Taylor,
Walker Bowman, C. B. Wallace and Wister Archer (the students
named in said section) on the conditions in said section
specified.
On motion of Colo Ruffin,
Resolved, That the Committee on Grounds and Buildings
be charged with the care of the monument over the grave of
Jefferson, and the grounds around it.
Resolved, further, That an appropriation of $25 be
allowed as an expenditure to carry out the above resolution,
and that the Proctor be authorized to spend said amount if
necessary.
Resolved 1. That, after the first day of July, 1884,
a student, who proposes to lodge in a University dormitory,
shall pay in advance the full rent of the same with the
privilege of sharing the room and its rent with a fellow
student; provided, in case of joint occupancy and of charges,
the charge be equitably divided by the Proctor among the
joint or successive occupants, so as to obtain not less than
the full rent of the dormitory.
2. That every student lodging elsewhere deposit in
advance $15 as an indemnity for rent; and that at the close of
estimated and divided equally among the students lodging
elsewhere as a charge to each - the remainder, if any, of
his deposit being credited in final settlement: provided,
said charge for indemnity in no case exceed $15.
3. That existing enactments, insofar as inconsistent
with these presents, be and are hereby repealed.
Resolved, That the report of the committee, appointed
to prepare a memorial to the General Assembly of Virginia
praying that there be enacted a statute providing for the
assumption by the State of the existing debt of the University,
be received and approved; and that the memorial
accompanying the report be adopted, and signed by each
member of the Board. That a committee of three be appointed
by the Rector (in addition to the Rector himself) for the
purpose of presenting the memorial to the Assembly and of
pressing the enactment of such statute before any committee
thereof to which it may be referred. And the Proctor will
pay the actual, necessary expenses of the members of the
Committee incurred in carrying out the objects of this resolution.
Resolved, further, that the said report and memorial
be spread upon the minutes of this Board: that the Proctor
be directed to have printed 500 copies of the memorial, and
that the Chairman of the Faculty cause to be mailed a copy
thereof to each member of the Board of Visitors and of the
General Assembly and to the Governor of the State, and distribute
the remaining copies as he may see proper.
Committee: The Rector, and Messrs Hansbrough, Bell and Ruffin.
To the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia:
The Committee, appointed at a former meeting of the
Board to draft a memorial to the General Assembly of Virginia
praying that it enact a statute assuming the payment by the
State of the debt of this Institution which at present amounts
to the sum of Eighty-seven Thousand Dollars, respectfully
report the following as the memorial of the Rector and
Visitors; and we add that in its preparation we were efficiently
aided by the learned Professor of Common and Statute Law,
John B. Minor, ..D., who, as well as the entire Faculty,
warmly concurs in its object and prayer, and in our hope that
it will meet with favorable consideration by the Legislature
and the people of Virginia.
Memorial.
To the General Assembly of Virginia:
The Memorial of the
Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia respectfully
represents: That your memorialists find that the important
Institution, with the care of which they are charged,
is seriously hindered in its general usefulness by the oppressive
debt under which it labors; and which may be classed
under three heads, all evidenced by the bonds of the University,
namely:
| 1. Debt bearing eight per cent interest contracted prior to 1876 |
$74,500 |
| 2. Debt bearing six per cent interest | |
| contracted in 1883 | $ 5,000 |
| 3. Debt bearing no interest, money advanced by Miller Board, 1879 |
10,000 |
| $89,500 |
The Act of Assembly of February 26, 1875, appropriating
$30,000 per annum for the support of the University requires
that "out of the said appropriation of $30,000 all necessary
repairs, and the interest on the existing debt shall first
be paid, and a sinking fund of $1,000 per annum shall be
established and placed under the control of the Board of Visitors
to be annually applied to the liquidation of the principal."
Under this Act the then existing debt has been reduced from
about $87,000 as it was at that date to the above-stated sum
of $74,500, but it has been necessary since that time to borrow
$15,000, namely:
| For cases for the Brooks Museum of the Miller Board in 1879 without interest |
$10,000 |
| For the erection of a residence for the Director of the McCormick Observatory in 1883 at six per cent interest |
5,000 |
| $15,000 |
The subtraction from the yearly income of the University of
the sum required to pay the interest on the then existing debt
(i.e. #87,000) and to provide the $1,000 of Sinking Fund amounting
in the aggregate for the last financial year to about $7,000 (to
say nothing of the interest on the debt of $15,000 contracted in
1883) makes it needful, in order to maintain the Institution in
even tolerable efficiency, to levy upon the students very burdensome
taxes in the shape of heavy matriculation fees, rents, etc., which
impair the popularity of the University, and diminish the attendance
Your memorialists submit that under these circumstances,
the well-being of the University requires that the State
should assume the debt of the Institution, and so relieve
its revenues of the disastrous charge now resting upon them,
and they humbly pray that your honorable body will so enact.
It is needless to remind any member of the General Assembly
that the Institution was not established for the pecuniary
profit, but for the intellectual and moral development of the
people and the glory of the State, and can only be maintained
in its appropriate and intended efficiency and distinction
by reasonable expenditures of the public treasure; and the
intelligent and patriotic statesman can scarcely doubt the
political wisdom of such reasonable expenditures as may
be essential to preserve the University's standing in the
foremost rank of institution of its class and in a condition
consonant with the traditions and destinies of Virginia.
The affectionate interest with which, for so many years,
the General Assembly and the people of the State have
cherished the University - the splendid and peculiar monument
to the patriotic forethought of Thomas Jefferson encourages
your memorialists to believe that it is only needful to prove
that the interposition asked for is really necessary in order
to insure a favorable hearing from the Assembly and to invoke
the warm approval and sympathy of the people.
To that end attention is asked to the statement of receipts
and disbursements which accompanies the annual report of
this Board. It will be apparent thence that the expenditures
be further contracted without detriment to the public
service. If the prayer of your memorialists be granted they
think that the University may be made, at materially less cost
to its pupils in several particulars, more worthy of its fame,
of the memory of its illustrious founder, and the honor and
influence of the Commonwealth, whose judicious liberality
has reared it to be one of the foremost seats of higher
education in all the land.
Your memorialists submit, further, that inasmuch as
in several of the States from which the University has
hitherto derived a liberal support, State Institutions have
now been erected where no tuition fees, and merely nominal
charges of any kind except for board, are exacted, it is more
expedient than ever, not to say indispensable, to reduce all
charges at the University, especially of the incidental kind,
such as for matriculation etc. to the lowest figure possible.
In conclusion, - whilst your memorialists make no
question that the existing debt was contracted in the best
interests of the Institution, and in view of what was considered
a reasonable hope and expectation that a large portion of it
would be paid from other resources,- still, in view of the
failure to receive these collateral funds, and because it is
manifestly inexpedient that Literary Institutions should be
hampered by pecuniary embarrassments, Your Memorialists are
decidedly of the opinion that, by express enactment, the
University should be inhibited in the future from creating any
$15,000 without previous sanction of the General Assembly.
And your memorialists will ever pray, etc.
Endorsed:
"On motion, it was unanimously Resolved that the
memorial of the Board of Visitors as presented to the
Miller Board meets its entire approbation, and demands
its heartiest co-operation and union in the prayer of
said memorial.
(Signed) J.F. Slaughter, President of
the Miller Board of Trustees.
"R.T.W.Duke,
Secretary"
Committee of the Miller Board on the Memorial.
"Messrs Barbour, Jones and Mr Slaughter, President,
were on motion appointed a committee to unite with a similar
committee of the Board of Visitors to present a memorial
to the General Assembly in regard to the University debt,
Mr. Slaughter being Chairman of the Committee.
A Copy, Teste:
R.T.W. Duke jr,
Asst: Secy:"
Resolved, unanimously, by the Rector and Visitors of
the University of Virginia, That the thanks of this Board
Remsen, of the John Hopkins University, to Prof C. Loring
Jackson, of Harvard University, to Dr H.J. Bowditch, of
Boston, to Genl: Francis A. Walker, of Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, to Prof T.M. Drown, of Easton, Pa.,
and to Prof A.W. Hoffman, of Berlin, Prussia, and to Dr E.
Frankland, of London, England, for the extraordinary degree
of interest they have displayed and their generous services
in assisting our Committee in the matter of selecting suitable
candidates for the Chair of Chemistry inthis University,
recently made vacant by the resignation of Dr John W. Mallet,
but now happily filled again by the election of that distinguished
professor.
Adjourned.
Rector pro-tem
| Board of Visitors minutes November 15, 1883 | |