Page:A History of the University of Chicago by Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed.djvu/288

 250 A HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO the President, that the first year saw the birth of that spirit of unity which continued to characterize all the various faculties and bound them together into that enduring and genuine co-operative harmony which has led the way to the University's large success. The opening released at once activities of every sort. The intellectual life of the University in all its departments began immediately to assume definite form. During the first quarter departmental clubs began to be established, and before the end of the year there were fifteen or more. The President had led these departmental clubs to join together and form the University Union, which was expected to hold a public meeting about the middle of each quarter. The President expected the students, through the University Union, "to come into relation with the out- side world." The departmental clubs developed naturally out of the needs of the graduate departments and endured. The University Union was artificial, met no real need, and soon disappeared. In the first Convocation Address President Harper said, "The religious life has likewise shaped itself and the Christian Union, open to every member of the University, whatever his faith or creed, has begun its work." The program of the Christian Union was an ambitious one, including "a Sunday afternoon course of Bible-study, a Sunday evening service of worship, philanthropic work, such as can be conducted by students, and still other forms of religious activity, each under the charge of a separate com- mittee." The Christian Union survived, but not as originally organized. It was superimposed upon the student life from above, instead of springing up spontaneously from the student body, and the religious life of the students never expressed itself through the Christian Union. It was too inclusive to permit this. But, in originating and sustaining the University Settlement and in other ways, it served high purposes. The professors also organized during the first year the Philo- logical Society. All persons giving instruction in the University, in any of the languages, were eligible to membership. This society also survived and flourished. Social life began early for the professors. The Gentlemen's Social Union of the Hyde Park Presbyterian Church held a Uni-