Liberal Arts Education Quotes
The Connecticut state legislature had questioned why Greek and Latin should be required of entering students. If any language should be required, why not French, Dutch or German—the more “practical” languages. Day wrote this report to answer the question. The ancient Greek and Roman classics were, in his view and that of the faculty, the best reading for American citizenship. There is a similar quasi political argument today regarding the classic Western literature as the foundation of American citizenship and patriotism, and some critics argue that non Western literature is equally important and should be taught also. The traditionalists argue that the classic Judeo Classic Western literature is what America was founded upon and informed the Founding Fathers, and therefore should not be diminished in the curriculum.
On a visit to England, Fillmore was offered an honorary degree from Oxford University whose diplomas were always in Latin. He declined.
What is interesting about this advertisement is the last line advertising that the school was coeducational. Earlham was not the first college in America to admit females—Obelin College did in 1833. However, when schools accepted females there was usually controversy and they did not advertise the fact. But here Earlham’s advertisement tells us a few things about the culture. There must have been many young women who wanted to attend college, otherwise there would not have been any point in advertising for them. In addition, although coeducation at the college level was an uncommon notion, it was probably not offensive to most people in the area lest the ads would not have been publicly run.
