Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 21.djvu/22



12 HENRY L. BATES

Pacific belongs indeed to that important class of "the small college" and she is not only proud of it but is inclined to believe that her special mission to humanity is best fulfilled in that capacity.

At present, at least, her endowment is inadequate and her equipment greatly in need of improvement but she and her sister independent Christian colleges in the state can do things for the youth of the land which great universities with larger faculties, more costly equipment and crowds of students cannot possibly do.

There never was a time when the peculiar influence and the dominating ideals of a distinctively Christian college were more needed in America to mold the character and clarify the motives of our youth in these days of unrest and uncertainty. . The peculiar needs of the time make it a matter of the high- est patriotism to the whole people to support such an institu- tion ; for it is laying the foundations of a Christian civilization, it is doing its part to make America safe for democracy.

Today the outlook for Pacific University seems bright with promise. A beautiful campus, second to none in the state ; five buildings, all modern but one; an endowment fund of about a quarter of a million ; a loyal and enthusiastic student body ; the prestige of an honorable past and an honor roll of worthy sons and daughters ; the confidence that her friends who believe in her and in her mission, will show their faith by their works and increase her funds and add to her buildings and her equip- ment ; a devoted and self-denying faculty ; the ideals of her founders still sacredly cherished ; these are what Pacific Uni- versity posseses today as the sure foundation of her belief in her mission and her future in the generations to come.