xt7vdn3zt10c https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7vdn3zt10c/data/mets.xml Lexington, Kentucky University of Kentucky 19060311 minutes English University of Kentucky Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Minutes of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees Minutes of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees, 1906-03-dec11. text Minutes of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees, 1906-03-dec11. 1906 2011 true xt7vdn3zt10c section xt7vdn3zt10c 






MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES,Jun-6 1906 Page ll0(cont'd)



     Mr. Hookins moved that the Renort of the Committee on
Appropriations be received and the recommnendations made therein
adopted. Said motion was seconded by Mr. Carpenter, put upon
its passage and. upon the roll-call the votes stood as follows:-

     Ayes- Messrs. Frazee, Terrell, Patterson, Metcalfe, Nicholas,
Carpenter, Brooks, McChord, Hopkins, Kinkead, Clay and Stout-   12

     Noes --- None

     The motion was carried.


     ThereuDon upon motion of Judge Kinkead, u-July seconded and
carried the Board adjourned sine die.
                                      D. C. Frazee
                                             Secretary





                                                      Page 111
     Minutes of Board of Trustees of the A. & M. College of Ken-
tucky, held in the President's room, Gymnmasium Building on the
College Grounds, at Lexington, Ky., on Tuesday, December 11th
1906 at 2 o'clock.


     Mr. D. F. Frazee, form   chairman, called the meeting to
order, and directed that the roll be called. The roll call
showing the following:-

     Present- Messrs. Barker, Hopkins, McChord, Nicholas, Frazee,
Kinkead, Lafferty, Metcalfe, Terrell, Patterson.-   10

     Absent- Gov. Beckham, Messrs. Smith, Carpenter, Stot, Brooks,
Bell and Clay.-   7


     The Ohairman announced that there was a quorum present; and
the meeting was ready for business.




     Judge Barker moved that Mr. D. F. Frazee be elected Chair-
man for this Meeting. Said motion was seconded by Mr. McOhord
and carried unanimously. Mr. Frazee not voting.




 







MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TR0USTEES,Jun.6, 1906 Page lll(contld)



    Upon motion of Mir. McChord, duly seconded and carried the
Board went as a body to inspect the various buildings etc.,
at this time.  The Board returned in about an hour.


     It being next in order of business, the Secretary read
the minutes of the last meeting of the Board. Upon motion
duly made & seconded & carried the minutes were adopted as
read.


     The Secy read minutes of Ex. Com. since last meeting of
Board.






     Thereupon Judge Barker offered the following resolution:-
     Resolved that the action of the Executive Committee in
appropriating money for buildgings be ratified and confirmed,
and that this Board endorse the action of the Executive Com-
mittee in making these appropriations; and that the Executive
Committee be further authorized to borrow a sufficient sum
to complete and equip the two buildings, Normal and Mechanical
Engineering Building which were begun under the direction of
the Executive Committee.

                                               Page 112
     Said motion was seconded by Mr. McOhord, and after dis-
oustion being put upon its passage the vote stood as follows:-

     Ayes- Messrs. Barker, Hopkins, McChord, Nicholas, Frazee,
Kinkead, Lafferty, Metcalfe, Terrell, and. Patterson;-   10

     Noes- None

     Motion unanimously carried.






     Upon motion of Judge Barker seconded. by President Patter-
son and duly carried, it was Resolved that a Committee of three
consisting of Judge Kinkead, Chairman, Messrs. Clay and Me- .
Chord, be appointed to draft a resolution construing the sec-
tion of the Oharter defining the power of the Executive Committee
and report same at next meeting of the Board.




 




MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TFUSTEES,Dec.l1, 1906 Page 112(contl'



     Up)on the motion of President Patterson, seconded by Judge
Barker and. dauly carried it was

     Resolved that the minutes of the Executive Committee be
refered to the Appropriate Committee/


     Upon motion of President Patterson, seconded by Mr. Mc-
Ohord and carried the minutes of the Faculty since the last
meeting of the Board were refered to the Executive Committee
with power to act.


     Upon motion of President Patterson, seconded by Judge
Lafferty and carried the minutes of the Special Faculties were
refered to the Executive Committee wi.th nower to act.

     Upon motion of President Patterson, seconded by Mc~hord
and carried, the Executive Committee appointed in June Last
is continued until next June.






     At this point President Patterson read to the Board his
Report, which is as follows-

     To the Honorable Board of Trustees of the State of Ken-
tucky.
     Gentlemen:-
        There is ordinarily any occasion to present more than
a brief report to the Board of Trustees at the Midwinter meeting.
There are ,however, a few matters of interest and importance
which may be presented for your consideration during the
present meeting.

     First:- The matriculation this year largely exceeds that
of any previous one. When the Board met in December 1905,
there were on the College register 563 names. Today there
are 633. The various Summer Schools of 1906- Engineering,
Classical, Mathematical, Normal and various departments in
Science had. much larger numbers in attendance than in proceed-
ing year.  The present outlook is that if the usual percentage
of increase after the holidays be maintainr d, the Catalogue
for the current year will show not far from a thousand names.
This is very gratifying.   It shows that notwithstanding the
opposition of other institutions and of those interested in
their maintenance, the unfriendly attitude of some of our own
people and the apathy others, that the college is steadily
growing in public estimation and is rapidly becoming recognized




 




MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TRIJSTEES,Dec. 11, 1 06 Pane 113(0ont'd)



as the representative institution of the Oommonwealth. The
State Improvement Association which met in October in Winchester,
the Grange Association which met in Lexington during the same
month, the various Farmer's Institutes whicha met in the dif-
ferent parts of the State, and county and District schools In-
stitutes have al1 passed resolutions con.ending the college
and its work. They have,moreover, with singtlar unanimity
urged upon the Legislature and Legislation necessary to make
it a University-the University of the State of Kentucky, We
have now arrived at a period in our expansion when this should
be done, and I recommend that the Board take appropriate action
with reference thereto. Almost every Land Grant College has
either developed into a University or become an integral part
of a University.
                                                          Page 114
     Second- Twenty years ago, the whole time of the Collegiate
year from September to June, with the exception of legal holi-
days was given to study and class-room work. This, however,
cannot now be said. Almost as soon as college work begins,
foot-ball teams are organized ant, begin training. Twenty or
thirty men are withdrawn for athletic exercise almost every
afternoon. This interferes with the preparation of lessons
with military requirements, gymnastic training and laboratory
work to a very serious degree, journeys long and short, invol-
ving absences, are undertaken to play match games. The whole
student body is frequently detained after chapel in order to
work up an artificial interest for contributing money to meet
exoenses. Games are preceeded and accompanied by an excite-
ment sometimes stimulated by reprehensible indulgences and
money in greater or lesser sums is lost and won. I think that
you can readily see that this is an atmosphere uncongenial to
study and tends to defeat the purpose for whichihe college is
organized and to disappoint the expectations of those who send
their sons hither.

     From the end of November till about the middle of March,
when the base-ball season begins, there is a comparative lull
and during the interval the serious work of the year is done.
I do not speak of broken noses, legs and arms, but of the time
wasted, idleness encouraged and a heritage of demoralization
carried over to the suceeding year. This is a serious matter
and deserves your careful consideration.

     An exceeding regrettable occurrence took place on Hal-
loween. The ex eriences of former years had. led me to expect
some disturbance. I had consequently on the day proceeding
Hallowe'en detained the young men after chapel services and
enjoined upon them the necessity of not allowing fun to run int
riot. I sent also for the cadet officers on the 31st October
and requested their co-oneration in the maintenance of order.




 




MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES,Dec.11,1906 Page 115(cont'd)



I was surorised on the morning of November 1st to learn that
some of the students had endeavored to obstruct the street car
service and had thus come into collision with the police, that
a riotous demonstration had occurred on the grounds of Patterson
Hall and that a few had effected an entzance into the secondstory
of the building through the fire escape.  Six or eight of those
participating in these riotous proceedings were arrested by the
police, taken to the police station, locked up overnight and sent
to the work house the next morning.  The police were greatly ex-
cited. The prisoners during the course of the day were admitted
to bail. Their trial was postponed for ten days pending the
recovery of a policeman said to have been seriously injured by
stones thrown by the rioters. When brought to trial two of them-
viz. Veal and Jett, confessed judgment and were fined by the
court.

     The Grand Jury took up the case. They summoned many of the
Professors, the persons arrested by the police and about one
hundred and fifty of the students. After patient investigation
continuing for a week or more, the Grand Jury failed to obtain
sufficient evidence upon which to indict any person.  In their
report, a copy of which was sent to me, they used the following
language:-

     'These acts of rioting cannot be too severely condemned, and
it is to be regretted beyond measure that no testimony could be
secured upon which to base indictments against the parties guilty
of these acts of violence.  It became apparent to the Grand Jury
that there was no preconceived plan to do any of the things that
were done by the students upon that night.  The students had
gathereds an account of a notice which Iad been posted to the Page 116
effect that the upper classrnen would compel the lower classmen
to remain in their rooms during the evening. We are satisfied
that in its inception the gathering of the students was without
any plan for any violence or illegal act. Afterwards the more
reckless spirits among the students seem to gain control and the
occurence followed as have been detailed. The Grand Jury deems
it its duty to say to the court that in a large measure the
authorities of the State College are to be blamed for these un-
fortunate occurrences.  So far as we can determine the system
of discipline at the college is absolutely inefficient. With a
semi-military organization and a supposed measure of military
discipline, we find that the authorities of the College have ab-
solutely no effective system. of discipline and practically no
control over the con(uct of the student body, and we believe that
if a proper system of military discipline were in force at the
College, occurrences like those on Halloween night would be im-
possible.

     "If it had been possible to secure a sufficient evidence this
grand jury would not have hesitated to indict any student concerned
in these nats of violence and we regret to find that the student




 




MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TRTJSTEES,Dec.ll,1906 Page 116(oont'd)



body of State College have showedc. a most lamentable disregard
for law and order and the rights of persons and property and the
stories of these occurrences on Halloween Night reflect no
credit upon the college or upon the young, men and boys who are
to obtain an education at the exoense of the State.'


     To one matter particular I desire to call your attention
viz- the indignity to which the persons arrested were subjected
in being sent to the workhouse like common felons, untried by
the courts and uncondemned. The local press was of course PAGE 117
full of proceedings the next morning, greatly exaggerated.
These rere cooied broadcast by the press of the State and brought
grief, apprehension and. distress to many homes.  one of the
temptation to which our students are exposed and which we cannot
control is the saloons in the neighborhood of the college grounds.
I suggest that the Board of Trustees pass a. resolution requesting
the municipal authorities to refuse license to any saloon within
two sauares of the College grounds.


     The Faculty of course felt very deeply the discredit attaching
to the riotous proceedings of Halloween.  They cited the persons
arrested by the police investigated the affair and suspended two
of them indefinitely. But they do not feel that they are justly
amendable to the censure of the Grand Jury. We did what we could
by admonition and advice to persuade the students to demean them-
selves as gentlemen and not to allow fun and frolic to run into
riot and disorder.  We cannot ounish in advance.  We cannot assume
guilt, punish firstand investigate afterwards. If the Grand
Jury with all the machinery provided by law, secret inquisition,
the power to administer an oath and to send recalcitrant persons
to prison, cannot discover the perpet-rators of evil doing, how
can the faculty be expected, with none of these adventitions aids,
who discover who the mischief makers are? We cannot designate
them in advance, we can punish them only upon adequate proof
for conviction, and this proof *is often impossible to obtain.


     The reflection upon the Faculty by the Grand Jury seems the
more unjust and the more unaccountable when following immediate-
ly uT)non- the distinct statement that "it became apparent to the
Grand Jury that there was no preconceived plan to do any of those
things that were done by the students upon that night. We are
satisfied that in its inception the gathering of the students was
Without any plan for any violence or illegal act."


     One of the contributory causes which encourage disorder and
riotous behaviour is the existence of the dormitories on the col-
lege grounds. The aggregation of large numbers of students domi-
ciled upon the College -rounds, an annreciable percentage of




 





MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES,Dec.11,1906 Page 118(cont'd)



whom are disposed to be idle, afford facilities for combinatiaa
to disturb the peace and to ctmmitt excesses such as occurred
on Halloween. All this seriously interferes with the work of
those who desire to make an economic use of their time. The un-
fortunate exemption by the Board some years ago of Seniors from
drill has had a demoralizing effect. They claim exemption from
military formation to march to chapel, from roll-call and other
duties hitherto required. These were conceded by Captain By-
rode, the predecessor of the present commandent, and were followed
by other concessions which gives them the impression that they
are not amenable to control as other students are.  Oftentimes
till late at night, especially on Fridays and Saturday, yelling
and discharging of fire-arms make night hideous. These excesses,
accompanied by broken glass and furniture, betray the disposition
to disorder which culminates in occurrences such as Halloween.
When an officer of the College, attracted by the noise, appears
lipon the scene, all hurriedly get into their rooms, lights are
extinguished and it becomes impossible to discover the disturbers
of the peace. The majority of the occupants want to demean them-
selves, with propriety and to employ their time to advantage, but
they cannot control the lawless element and will not inform upon
the offenders. The only effective remedy for this is to abolish
the dormitory system, root and branch.                      Page 119


     Nearness to an occurrence is sometimes not conducive to a
proper estimate of its proportions and of its relations.  For this
reason one is likey to over-estimate or under estimate its im-
portance. 'Distant in time and in place supplies the necessary
correctives. Yet I think that it must be admitted that there are
conditions existing in the State College now with which we were
not confronted in the earlier years of its history. Courses of
study have become more crowded, while the time available for their
mastery has from the various preoccupations and distractions from
study sensibly diminished. Indoor and outdoor athletics, foot-
ball, base-ball, Greek letter fraternities, holidays, dances,
banquet and other minor affairs make heavy drafts upon both time
and money.


     The Board of Trustees should look into these matters. The
Faculty seldom came into touch with the Board and oftentimes have
need of their advice and counsel. They should through a committee
of the whole Board or throughc a select committee give the college
the necessary time to look into its affairs, see its departments
in operation, note their growth and their necessities, discipline
class organization and management, note deficiencies, encourage,
reprove admonish, where encouragement, reproof and admonition are
needed. A Board of Trustees cannot in two days' session twice
each year know much about the College in operation. Exparte state-
ments oftentimes require to be discounted. But to see is to know.
Captain Mahan has shown that there is all the difference in the




 





MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES,Dec.ll, 1906 Page 120



world between a fleet on paper and a fleet in being. So with
a College.
                  I am with much regret - Your obedient servant.





     The Chairman referred the President's Report to the Committee
on President's Report.


     President Patterson at this point read to the Board reports
and statements from the Deans of various departments, towit:
Statements from Dean of Department of Civil Engineering; Dean of
Department of Mechanical Engineering; Dr. Tuttle, Dean of the
Department of Ohemistry; from Commandant of College.


     Upon reading of the communication from the Commandant Mr.
McChord moved that President Patterson be given authority to
deliver up to the war Department all old guns, and execute
necessary bond and receive tne new guns. Said motion was
seconded by Judge Barker, put upon its passage and carried.





     Upon motion of President Patterson-seconded by Judge Barker
and duly carried, it was resolved that no fees, either tuition,
matriculation or gymnasium be refunded to any student after the
lapse of six weeks from the date of their entrance, unless by
action of the Executive Committee,


    At this point the Board adjourned until tomorrow morning at
nine o'clock A. TV.

     Met pursuant to adjournment at nine o'clock A. M. Wednesday,
December, 12th, 1906. The roll-call showed the following:

    Present - Messrs. Mc~hord, Nicholas, Frazee, Kinkead, Laffer-
ty, Metcalfe, Terrell, Hopkins, Patterson and Carpenter -   10

    Absent - Gov. Beckham, Messrs. Barker, Smith, Stout, Brooks,
Bell and Clay -   7



There being a quorum pvesea business was proceeded with.




 



Missing report(s)