Promoting the “Public Welfare” at Stanford University

Abstract

Stanford University celebrated its Golden Anniversary in 1941, beginning with a 21 to 13 win over the University of Nebraska at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The victory was an auspicious beginning to a notable year, one marked by numerous galas, a Commemorative Symposium themed “The University and the Future of America,” and the dedication of a 285-foot-tall tower as part of the university’s Hoover Library on War, Revolution and Peace.2 As entertaining as the festivities reportedly were, however, war news from Europe and Asia provided a constant reminder of the possible challenges facing the university community in the years ahead. Inaugurated during World War I, Stanford University President Ray Lyman Wilbur was fully aware of the disruptions the university might confront if the United States was again drawn into a European conflict.3 Donald B. Tresidder, president of the university’s Board of Trustees and a Stanford undergraduate during World War I, was also concerned for the university’s future. Tresidder’s worries, however, stemmed less from America’s involvement in the war than from a belief that Stanford had lost touch with the institutional realities confronting most colleges and universities in the United States, particularly those increasingly involved in research.KeywordsPublic WelfareLiberal EducationAMERICAN EducationPearl HarborFourth DivisionThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.