Page 8 - 1908 November - To Dragma

To D R A G M A

VOL. I V . N O V E M B E R , 1908. No. I .

To D R A G M A is published on the twenty-fifth of November, February and
May. A l l matter for publication should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief, Viola C .
Gray, 1537 S. 33rd Street, Lincoln, Neb., not later than the first of the month
of issue.

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thirty-five cents.

HISTORY OF RANDOLPH-MACON WOMAN'S COLLEGE

Randolph-Macon Woman's College has had a brief but brilliant
history. Its origin was a conception of Chancellor Smith of the
Randolph-Macon system in response to a proposition from the
business men of Lynchburg that a Randolph-Macon institution
should be located in their city. I n 1893 the college was opened with
thirty-six boarding students. I t was only a half building, but it
was a whole college. For from the first it was determined that the
requirements for the A . B . degree should equal those of the best
colleges for men. The thirty-six were given true college work and
required to measure up to the highest standards.

I n a few years the number of students increased, additional pro-
fessors were selected, the building was enlarged and a new Library
and Science H a l l were added. The sub-collegiate work was dis-
continued and the college gained a place among the fourteen classed
by the United States Commissioner of Education, in "Division A . "
of colleges for women in the United States. I n 1899 yet more
room was needed, and the buildings were completed according to
the original plan by the erection of the west wing. I n this were
domitory accommodations for about a hundred students and separate
laboratories for Physics, Biology, and Physchology. Here Dr.
Smith felt that he might rest. The original conception of a first-
grade college for two hundred boarding students with laboratories,
library, gymnasium, etc., offering a f u l l strong A . B . course equal
to the best open to men in Virginia, has been realized; and yet the
pressure continued. Lower classes were cut off, entrance require-
ments were raised, and the f u l l standards of the best northern col-
leges were set up, yet the demand for admission continued and grew
year by year. A l l available rooms in buildings near the college were
rented, and still each year a large number of applicants had to be
declined. Reluctantly Dr. Smith yielded to the spirit of the age,