medicine; not a clergyman, but a man devoted to the things of
the soul.” Only upon such a platform, the writer submits,
could Howard University justify its claims as the national
University of the colored race.
A university which claims to embody, express and impart the aims and aspirations of any group must necessarily be a social institution. It must assemble on its staff those who embody in their own personality the traditions, aims and aspirations of the community for which it is established. The Cath- olic University of America must be under the leadership and direction of Catholic sages, statesmen and scholars. The Jewish University whether in America or Palestine must derive its genius and inspiration from the elders of Israel. But here, as elsewhere, the anomaly of the Negro situation obtrudes itself. At the time of the foundation of Howard University and other institutions of its character the Negro race had to depend upon vicarious leadership, because it had not at that time produced a competent body of men in its own ranks with developed capacities for competent and efficient self-expression and wise self- direction. Then came the missionaries from the North with the love for God in their hearts and with the Bible in the right hand and the school books in the left. They regarded themselves, not as superior creatures, but as elder brothers. They voluntarily divested themselves of all superior claims and pretensions in order that they might the more effectually serve those who needed their help. They planted Howard University and projected it as the national institution for the training of leaders of the benefited race. They understood that their tenure was temporary.
The members of one group cannot furnish ideals for another, if they must needs live a life apart from those whom they would serve. The sentiment of the times has changed. Crystallized laws and customs, in sections where the Negro colleges are located, now make it impossible for the white man to identify his life and interests with the colored race, even if he desires so to do. The two races cannot ride in the same car, send their children to the same school, or attend the same church, and must perforce walk the streets apart. Under such
