Page:A History of the University of Chicago by Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed.djvu/529

 THE DEVELOPING UNIVERSITY 463 with great appreciation as indicative of the good spirit which has always existed between the institution and its students. The following is a list of the gifts thus far made: The Senior Bench, by the Class of 1896; the President's Chair, 1897; a stone drinking-fountain, 1898; a pulpit, 1899; the planting of a tree upon the campus, 1900; the Douglas Tablet, 1901; and a stained-glass window for Mandel Hall, 1902. Subsequent class gifts were the "C Bench" given by the Class of 1903; gift for the Harper Memorial Library, 1904; a contribu- tion for the building of the Harper Memorial Library, 1905; the Cobb Hall Bulletin Boards, 1906; the lamps in front of Cobb Hall, 1907; the Harper Tablet in the Library, 1908; Harper Library clocks, 1909; contribution for the Harper Memorial Library, 1910; the Coat-of-Arms in the Cloister, Tower Group, 1911; a gate for Stagg Field, 1912; the contribution of the Class of 1913, waiting final designation ; Students' Loan Fund, 1914; lamps for Hutchinson Court, 1915; for undergraduate scholarship, 1916. The Class Gift may be said to have become one of the traditions of University life, firmly established during these early years. President Judson, early in his administration, began to work out plans for cutting down the number of years ordinarily required in preparing for and completing a college course. It has already been told how this work was begun in the Elementary School in the saving of one year with no sacrifice in the quality of the preparation for the High School. It was the President's view that the sixteen years traditionally required for elementary, secondary, and college work could, not only without detriment, but with profit to the stu- dent, be cut down to twelve or at the most thirteen, thus adding three or four years to his productive life. This was a problem of immense importance, the solution of which engaged the attention not only of the President, but also of many of his associates. The President's Report for 1909-10 ended as follows: The American College problem as it exists in these opening decades of the twentieth century has not yet been solved, and needs a very careful and intelligent study. It would not be surprising if the result of that study should be some quite startling changes in the existing organization. As to the policy worked out by the University with reference to entrance requirements and to the college curriculum, Professor