446 Elm St.
\nNew Haven Conn.,<\/p>\n
May 28, 1900.<\/p>\n
My dear Miss Coburn:
\nI had been thinking of
\nwriting to you when your
\nletter came to hand
\nyesterday. I was very glad
\nto receive it, for I think
\nthat as the two representatives
\nof the alumnae on the
\nBoard of Conference we ought
\nto understand each other\u2019s
\nattitude as fully as possible.<\/p>\n
I regret very much that
\nwe cannot have a face-to-
\nface talk before Commence-
\nment and that it is
\ngoing to be impossible for<\/p>\n
me to attend the meeting
\nof the Board or be in
\nWaterville at all at that
\ntime. But I will do the
\nnext best thing and make thru letters
\nwhat suggestions I have to
\noffer, hoping that I may
\nreceive an answer from
\nyou telling me of your
\npoint of view in regard to
\nthe matters touched upon.<\/p>\n
In the first place, I under-
\nstand that the immediate
\noccasion for the appointment
\nof this committee of ours was
\nthe petition presented to
\nthe Trustees by the Alumnae
\nlast Commencement. This
\nis clear, I believe, from the
\nreport of the meeting now before
\nme.<\/p>\n
I think, then, that as
\nrepresentatives of the Alumnae,
\nwe are expected to further
\nthe requests there made,
\nat least those that have
\nnot been met. You remember
\nthat those were three in
\nnumber: 1st That the
\nDean might also be upon
\nthe teaching force. 2nd That
\na new dormitory for the
\nwomen might be speedily
\nerected _or as soon as
\npracticable. 3rd That
\nthe Alumnae might elected
\none of their own member to
\nthe Board of Trustees.<\/p>\n
Now, as I understand it
\nfrom Miss Parmenter\u2019s correspondence
\nwith Pres. Butler, he considers<\/p>\n
that No. 1 has been answered for a building in somebody\u2019s of the Women\u2019s College and As to the last point in be made this Commencement. I have the feeling that Women\u2019s Division to be too year, and who, while he she would not and does not I have written very freely and importance; and I should be I have been pleased to hear I hope Sigma may be able Yours very sincerely P.S. Do you understand this Conference Board to be Don\u2019t you think that a good president of the 446 Elm St. New Haven Conn., May 28, 1900. My dear Miss Coburn: I had been thinking of writing to you when your letter came to hand yesterday. I was very glad to receive it, for I think that as the two representatives of the alumnae on the Board of Conference we ought to understand […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7698,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/753"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7698"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=753"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14690,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/753\/revisions\/14690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nsatisfactorily by the fact that
\nMiss Mathews does some
\nteaching in the college. On
\nthat point, then, it is probably
\nbest to say no more.
\nAs regards the second point,
\nI do think that you and
\nI should bring this before the
\nmeeting of the Board; for
\nit is a matter in regard
\nto which there is a very
\nstrong feeling on the part of
\nsome of the Alumnae. You
\nwill notice by consulting the
\nReport again that Dr. Butler
\nseems to have arrested all
\nfurther interest and effort in this matter
\non the part of the Alumnae
\nby making an vague<\/del> announc-
\nment of a vague provision<\/p>\n
\nwill, we not knowing whether
\nit will materialize for many
\nyears to come. Now I think
\nthe body we represent feel
\nthat a new dormitory is
\nthe most urgent need of
\nthe \u201cWomen\u2019s Division\u201d today,
\nand that until recently it
\nlooked as if one would be
\nput up very soon. To this
\nend the agitation was begun
\nin 1893, and to this end
\nthe Alumnae contributed, as
\nthey could, a sum amounting
\nto four thousand or thereabouts.
\nWould it not be best, then
\nfor us to tell the Board
\nof the crippling influence
\nthe indefinite postponement
\nof such a building is going
\nto have upon the prosperity<\/p>\n
\nalso to urge them<\/del> to the
\ntrustees to announce to
\nthe Alumnae to what purpose
\nthe money they contributed for
\na definite end is to be
\ndevoted, if the building of
\nthe dormitory is no longer
\nin their immediate plans?
\nThis would seem reasonable
\nto me.<\/p>\n
\nthe petition – it may do no
\ngood to press the matter;
\nbut as yet we have received
\nno answer whatever to our
\nrequest. This, of course, is
\nsomething the Trustees cannot
\nevade and we have been
\ngiven to understand that
\nsome sort of an answer will<\/p>\n
\nI do not know whether you
\napproved of this request for
\nrepresentation, but to me
\nit seemed most reasonable.
\nI should, therefore, be in
\nfavor of our urging it upon
\nthe Board at its meeting,
\nin fact, to me it would seem
\nthe most important thing
\nwe have to do.<\/p>\n
\nthe present is an important
\ntime. Whether rightly or wrongly,
\nsome of our most valuable
\nAlumnae are being alienated
\nfrom the College. There seem
\nto be various reasons for
\nthis. Some of them feel
\nthat the Administration and
\nTrustees do not wish the<\/p>\n
\nprosperous _ that it should be
\nkept in a subordinate position.
\nThis is indicated, they think,
\nby the failure to push the
\nscheme for the new dormitory
\nand in other ways. Then, too,
\namong a portion of the more
\nthoughtful and experienced ones
\nwho have come in contact
\nwith other institutions, either
\nthrough teaching, study, or
\nobservations, there is a very
\ndecided conviction that the
\nstandards of teaching and
\nscholarship at Colby are
\ninadequate in certain respects.
\nThey cite the giving over of
\nsuch an important department
\nas the English, even for one
\nyear, into the hands of a
\nman who graduated only last<\/p>\n
\nmay be smart, has no
\nspecial training for such
\nwork as that. If Colby were
\nnot so far to one side and
\nwas brought more into com-
\nparison with other New
\nEngland colleges she would
\nhave to raise her standards
\nfor admission and employ a
\nlarger number of trained men on her
\nfaculty. As it is, she sets
\nher own standards very largely
\nand they are very inadequate.
\nNow, as a result of this feeling
\non the part of some of the
\nalumnae, girls are being
\nkept from going to Colby –
\ndesirable girls – I have known
\nmore than one of our
\nalumnae teachers to say that<\/p>\n
\npoint her girls to Colby. This
\nseems a sad state of affairs
\nto me when Alumnae lose
\ntheir loyalty for Alma Mater
\nand feel even that their
\ninterest is not wanted and
\ncan do no good. Can we
\ndo anything toward bettering
\nmatters? If so, what? We
\ncan, at least, let the Trustees
\nknow the feeling some of us
\nhave on these matters – a
\nfeeling promoted, not by in-
\ndifference to, but, in the
\nfirst place, by interest in,
\nthe college.<\/p>\n
\nat length upon these matters,
\nwhich to me seem of vital<\/p>\n
\npleased if you would return
\nthe compliment and let me
\nknow how you feel upon
\nthe various points. We should,
\nthen, be better able to work
\ntogether toward definite ends.
\nMay I expect an early reply?
\nI should then be ready to write
\nPres. Butler of my enforced
\nabsence from the meeting and
\nmake my suggestions in
\nabsentia.<\/p>\n
\nof Miss Mathews success as
\nDean.<\/p>\n
\nto carry out her plans for
\nexpansion this time.<\/p>\n
\nAlice S. Randall [over]<\/p>\n
\na permanent affair or appointed simply to meet
\nthe petition from the Alumnae?<\/p>\n
\nAlumnae Ass\u2019n ought to be continued by re-election in office
\nmore than one year? It seems to me that,
\nwhile it is a good thing to have the yearly elections
\nfor the office as a safeguard against an inefficient
\npresident, yet in the case of such a one as
\nMiss Parmenter the term of office should be
\nextended in order that she may continue her
\ngood work. She has been so tireless and efficient
\nthis past year, and, since she has given up
\nteaching and is to be Waterville next year, her
\nefficiency will be even further increased. I hope
\nshe will be reelected. A.S.R.<\/p>\n\n