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| The changes
made at the way the College looked (improved residential facilities),
made it attract more students form the middle class, increasing thus
the amount of money the college earned. In the same time, it brought
the college closer to the image of the small, residential, high-class
colleges of the era, like Amherst and Williams. However, to make the
college expenses affordable for the majority of people, Thomas managed
to obtaine scholarship founds from the state of Vermont. Again, Thomas
followed his statement from his inauguration as president: "No
American College should set itself to serve any particular social
class, either poor or rich. But may God forbid that we should ever
cease to search for the hesitant, backward boy, of the home that knows
severest hardship, that we may establish him an equal in the company
of those who seek for truth and self-mastery under guidance of the
world's greatest spirits". |
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One
of the most important contributions Thomas had to Middlebruy College
was changing the curriculum, and transforming Middlebury into a true
liberal arts college. The old curriculum, based mainly on the study
of Greek and Latin, and which gave no freedom of choosing the courses,
was soon given up on. At the beginning of 1913, students were able
to choose majors for the first time, and after completing their requirements
in the first year, they were able to pick one among the 170 courses
offered. Moreover, President Thomas had the visionary idea of organizing
a language session in the summer at Middlebury College, a program
that brought Middlebury prestige and recognition in the following
years. |
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