Their Relation to Higher Educational Finance
87
has been disbursed under this brand of Student aid and since tradition
has assigned to it so much prestige. The maladministration of these funds
is all the more reprehensible when we consider the length of time which
this sort of help has been in existence and the amount of thought which
has been given to it. But like some social institutions to which dignity
has been assigned rather than acquired, this one has peacefully rested
under a mass of unclear thinking. The result has been that no wellplanned
policy has been established and put into practice. The faults
have been two—the purpose for which these awards have been granted,
and the selection of the recipients.
Unfortunately, these awards have often been given without any
justification. Nothing specific has been required of the Student for what
he received. 49 In many cases it has practically amounted to paying him
to attend classes, and no attention has been paid to the sort of grades
received while holding such fellowships. The result has been at times to
malce Professional loafers out of otherwise promising young people. On
the other hand, many of the holders of these awards have gained prominence
in the fields of business, Science, and the arts. This was what could
rightfully be expected of them, for the young person who has such an
honor conferred upon him should go, in later life, far beyond what was
expected of him in College. It is evident, however, that a large number
have not reached even the heights to which they were destined by those
who conferred the awards, and some have failed miserably to hit the mark.
These observations bring to us in a startling manner the faults which
have existed in the making of these awards. Young men and women have
not been properly estimated. It is, of course, as difficult to forecast the
success of an individual ten or twenty years hence or even less, as it is
to forecast the future of an individual enterprise or business as a whole.
Nor can the individual himself gauge his future with any degree of
accuracy. So those who determine the awards cannot in any way be
called to task for errors in judgment. But it should be possible before
the final selection to require of the candidate something specific in the
way of performance which is better than that of the average Student.
If it does not seem likely that he will contribute to the Organization
or advancement of knowledge, there seems to be no reason to give
him financial support, and he should be made to understand that unless
he does accomplish something tangible, the aid will be withdrawn or
converted into a loan. The high-minded young person will not want to
accept such compensation unless he is determined to give something in
return.
40 “It is important for a young man to learn that the larger outside worid in which he is to
m . a *5 e his fight will not carry him as a helpless bürden, but will demand a fair return in the way
labor or Service for all that it gives.” F. P. Venable, President, University of North Carolina
address before the National Association of State Universities, 1905.
