Charles William Eliot: President of Harvard
The Puritans thought they must have trained ministers for the Church and they supported Harvard College – when the American people are convinced that they require more competent chemists, engineers, artists, architects, than they now have, they will somehow establish the institutions to train them.
.. As businessmen became increasingly reluctant to send their sons to schools whose curricula offered nothing useful – or to donate money for their support, some educational leaders began exploring ways of making higher education more attractive. Some backed the establishment of specialized schools of science and technology, like Harvard’s Lawrence Scientific School, Yale’s Sheffield Scientific School, and the newly chartered
.. An opinion had long been gaining ground that it would be better for the community and the interests of learning, as well as for the university, if the power to elect the overseers were transferred from the legislature to the graduates of the college. .. The effect of this change was greatly to strengthen the interest of the alumni in the management of the university, and thus to prepare the way for extensive and thorough reforms.