Seventy Years Of The Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Page 295

Charles Baker, secretary of the Corporation, presented results of a survey of the organization of boards of trustees in other colleges. He suggested a change in the Institute charter to provide for additional term members, to be nominated by the alumni, and the creation of an executive committee. The idea was enthusiastically received and plans to put it into effect were set in motion.

Dr. George H. Haynes presented the question of incorporating business courses into the curriculum. General proposals were discussed: the cooperative plan, a separate curriculum in business, and a course that would be partly engineering, partly business administration. This last seemed to be the most popular plan, but the conference decided to appoint a committee to make further studies, which should include in its program the sending of a questionnaire to representative alumni.

In working up to the launching of the endowment campaign major emphasis was laid on the loss of the State grant. It was imperative that one million dollars be raised to replace this loss, but even with that goal achieved the Institute would be in a standstill position. Another million must be added to the quota in order to provide income for increases in salaries and in equipment expenditures. All of this expansion in endowment must be in sight not later than June, 1922, consequently plans for a $2,000,000 campaign were immediately formulated, and a committee to handle it was appointed.

First great impetus to the program was the announcement by George I. Rockwood, '88, that he would give $50,000, and that if any other graduate would give $100,000 before January, 1922, he would add another $50,000. This challenge, probably pointing to a few men who were capable of such generosity, was never accepted, and Mr. Rockwood, by virtue of this and a subsequent additional gift, was to be the largest individual contributor. Another prospective increment was a grant from the General Education Board, the amount of which would probably be contingent upon how well the Institute presented

295

webmaster@wpi.edu

Last Modified: Fri Jul 30 11:15:25 EDT 1999