Show STUDENT LIFE 112 Dr Harper originated the summer school for higher work about a quarter of a century ago Since then nearly all the colleges and universities have established summer schools in which academic work is done for which credit is given The summer towards a degree quarter of the University of Chicago established as one of Dr Harper’s experiments in which teachd of ers or others may do the work of the college year is the logical fruition of his summer school idea of twenty-fiv- e years one-thir- a£° The University of Chicago more than any other ever established is the work of one mind Dr Harper has been the soul of the institution every new plan of administration and organization has emanated from his mind Among these might be mentioned the division of the year into four quarters of twelve weeks each with all courses completed in such time — an arrangement enabling tieedv students to drop out one or more quarters at any time to earn money to continue their work This was a practical expression of his democratic spirit and the very large per cent of the pupils who avail themselves of this arrangement in earning their own way confirms his foresight in the matter Many other experiments or innovations that he tried with equal success in the organization of this great university have proved his keen judgment and practical bent of mind and have shown that while he was an idealist he was not an idle dreamer or pursuei of shadows Before 1890 a university was a matter of slow growth since that date two have come into being like full grown at birth Minerva While Dr Jordan has worked wonders in a decade in building a university as a monument to Leland Stanford Jr he has followed more closely the established precedents in organization than did Dr Harper in the University of Chicago The latter with the true spirit of the idealist had worked out in mind and on paper the whole great plan that has required more than twenty millions of dollars to bring to its This plan was present state worked out in 1890 a short time after Mr Rockefeller had told him that he would give six hundred thousand dollars for the establishment of a university at Chicago if four hundred thousand more could be raised and before anv construction work had been done This amount was soon raised and the building of the University of Chicago was begun In its marvelous development ever since it has followed closely the general plan marked out bv Dr Harper before 1892 While other universities have been a slow growth and thev stand independent of their president or any one man this one stands as a monument to the matchless energy and almost faultless judgment of this educator who was a pioneer in the building of a university in a decade and that along many new and untried lines |