ROSTER OF OFFICERS. BOARD OF TRUSTEES. WILBUR P. THIRKIELD, LL. D., President of the University. Term expires 1912. Rev. A. F. BEARD, D. D., New York City. Hon. HENRY M. BAKER, LL. D., Washington, D. C. Term expires 1913. Justice THOMAS H. ANDERSON, Washington, D. C. Mr. CUNO H. RUDOLPH, Washington, D. C. Mr. WILLIAM V. COX., A. B., Washington, D. C. Mr. HENRY E. PELLEW, Washington, D. C. Bishop BENJAMIN TUCKER TANNER, LL. D., Philadelphia, Pa. The College of Arts and Sciences: KELLY MILLER, A. M., Dean. The Academy: GEORGE J. CUMMINGS, A. M., Dean. The School of Manual Arts and Applied Sciences: PERRY B. PERKINS, A. M., Ph. D., Acting Director. 1 Sustained entirely by endowments and special gifts. No doctrinal tests required. REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF HOWARD UNIVERSITY. HOWARD UNIVERSITY, Washington, D. C., July 15, 1911. SIR: I have the honor to submit for Howard University the following report, showing the condition of the institution on the 1st day of July, 1911, embracing therein the number of pupils received and discharged or leaving the same for any cause during the year and the number remaining; also the branches of knowledge and industry taught and the progress made therein. The enrollment for the past year has been 1,382. The international character of the institution may be judged from the fact that these students come from 37 States and 11 foreign countries-from British West Indies, 83; British Guiana, 7; Cuba, 6; Porto Rico, 5; Africa, 3; South America, 3; and from Dutch West Indies, Bermuda, Liberia, and Republic of Panama, 1 each. After the successful completion of the courses laid down in the catalogue, 200 students were graduated as per statement under each department, of these 129 receiving degrees as follows: M. D., 28; D. D. S., 17; Phar. D., 8; LL. B., 28; B. D., 6; A. B., 37; Ped. B., 5. The strategic importance of Howard University is emphasized by the fact that this is the only institution for the education of the American Negro in any way under the supervision and partial support of the Government. Only at Howard University is there provision, with the same broad equipment and high standards, both for the higher and professional training of the colored people. All the State institutions of the South, supported by general taxation for the higher education, are closed to them. They are practically shut out from participation in the educational advantages made available at great cost at West Point and Annapolis. Yet teachers in the common and high schools must meet the requirements of the State school authorities. To practice medicine the colored man is required to pass the same examination before the State boards as the white physician. So also in other professions and pursuits provision must be made for these 10,000,000 of our citizens, else it will mean the blind leading the blind, and both falling into the ditch, at great cost to society and the State. While the appropriation for Indian schools last year, available at most for about one quarter of a million of people, aggregated $1,430,000, the total Government appropriation looking to the training and equipment of a race of 10,000,000, on whom have been placed the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, was only about $100,000. RESOURCES. It is becoming increasingly evident that the institution must depend for the years to come almost entirely on Government support and current receipts from tuition in the several departments. The President of the United States, in his recent notable address, has, for the first time in the history of the university, laid the institution upon the Government as a definite obligation, stating in strong terms that This institution here is the partial repayment of a debt-only partial—to a race to which the Government and the people of the United States are eternally indebted. * * * We are free from any embarrassment with respect to carrying out the obligation, and it is fitting that the Government of the United States should assume the obligation of the establishment and maintenance of a first-class university for the education of colored men. * * * Everything that I can do as an Executive in the way of helping along this university I expect to do. I expect to do it because I believe it is a debt of the people of the United States, it is an obligation of the Government of the United States, and it is money constitutionally applied to that which shall work out in the end the solution of one of the great problems that God has put upon the people of the United States. The year has been signalized by the announcement of a bequest from Mrs. Moir, of New York City, that will probably amount to about $25,000. This is a hopeful indication, as this is the first bequest of any considerable amount that has been received in many years. Dr. John L. Ewell, professor in the school of theology for 25 years, showed his abiding interest in the university by a bequest of $1,000 for the special use of the school of theology. Little may be expected in the way of gifts for endowment to an institution that since its foundation has been so closely affiliated with the Government, in view of the fact that the scores of academies and colleges in the South for the academic and higher training of the colored people are so largely dependent on the generosity of benevolent people and on the efforts of the colored race. SCHOLASTIC WORK. The marked advance in the quality of work now done by the several faculties has been favorably commented upon. It is not too much to say that the advance to the high level of requirements and instruction now maintained marks an era in the history of the university. Both in the academic and professional departments the standards of entrance have been raised and are strictly enforced. After careful scrutiny, the entrance requirements and the scholastic work in the school of liberal arts have received the commendation of the secretary of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Instead of the rather free system of electives which has obtained for some years, the return to required group courses with a more limited system of electives, especially in the freshman and sophomore years, is yielding excellent results. The students are to be highly commended for their earnestness, serious purpose, and devotion to the work in hand. EVALUATION OF SCHOLASTIC WORK. In his annual report for 1909 the president called attention to the need, in a growing university such as this, for careful supervision and unification of the entire academic work in order to secure modern methods, uniformity of standards, and the most effective use of the teaching force. The dean of a department is necessarily circumscribed by the demands of his own department. The tendency is to narrow his vision to its demands. It is also evident that the time and energy of the president in a modern university must be largely absorbed in the increase of equipment and endowments, the general supervision and growth of the plant, and the representation of the institution before the public. For these reasons the president suggested the value that might come through the presence of an able and experienced educator, a man of modern equipment and high educational ideals, who should make an assessment of educational values in the scholastic work of the institution. And all this with a view to giving well-matured suggestions as to the coordination of the work, the proper balancing of various courses, and the best utilization of all the forces in the several faculties. Report has been made as to the high commendation of this plan by President Pritchett, of the Carnegie Foundation, and other educators. This year, in carrying out this plan, the cooperation of of Dr. Elmer E. Brown, United States Commissioner of Education, has been secured and some work has already been done through an educational expert. It is believed that when his work is completed he will be able to give suggestions of great value, thus adding to the efficiency of the work through the best utilization of the teaching force. THE STUDENT BODY. The registration for the year shows a total of 1,382 students in the several departments, as follows: Names duplicated because of students taking special courses in different departments.. 290 Correct total.... 1,382 Manual arts and domestic science. This great student body, gathered from 37 States, with 111 from 11 foreign countries, has maintained standards of conduct and devotion to work that are worthy of high praise. There have been few cases of serious discipline. The fact that . 1,179 young men have been pursuing work in the several departments of the university during the past year, for only 190 of whom there has been dormitory space provided on the campus, and that they are thus thrown out into the heart of a great city, and that there has been but one arrest in the past five years, furnishes a tribute to the serious purpose and high-minded character of the student body that is unusual. Over five-sixths of the young men wholly or in part earn their own way, practically all of them being self-dependent. This contributes to their earnest purpose and serious devotion to duty. Under the supervision of a single janitor the numerous buildings of the university are entirely cared for by student labor. The amount of |