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8. "We Must Begin"
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"We Must Begin" We lead! You read! All need! We lead! You read! All need! We lead! You read! All need! JOURNALISTS! -School of Journalism Departmental yell, from University ofMissouri Songs, 1929 8 Though he hardly would have thought so at the time, the long wait, the eight years after the curators' disingenuous vote in 1898 to establish, but not fund, a chair in journalism, in the end proved a good thing for Walter Williams. Criticism of the notion of college training for journalists, vigorous and widespread initially, had largely played itself out. By 1908, scoffing at the school of journalism idea still could be heard, but it came largely from lesser figures in the profession. Joseph Pulitzer's plan for ajournalism school, though cooly received at Columbia University, had gained favorable endorsements from such respected figures within the academy as the presidents of Harvard, Michigan, and Northwestern. Some leading publishers in the United States and Europe had also publicly expressed support for the idea of a school of journalism. Thus Missouri's delay until a separate division could be established possibly prevented an abortive beginning of Missouri's educational program for young journalists. I Chairs in journalism had been set up at Cornell in 1888, the University of Pennsylvania in 1893, and at Kansas in 1903.2 But these had enjoyed only modest success, and the idea of another mere professorship of journalism, housed in an academic department and almost certain to be swallowed up by that department's largerconcerns, now held little appeal for Williams. His years as a curator had convinced him of the necessity for practical applications of classroom instruction. Just as a chemistry class could not be effectively taught without a chemistry lab, so, too, did journalism teachers need a laboratory newspaper. And a laboratory newspaper, requiring close faculty supervision l. Viles, A Centennial History, 419. 2. Ibid. 132 "We Must Begin" 133 of student reporting and editing work, would be an unwieldy and expensive undertaking, one almost certainly destined to be pretty far down on an English department's list of priorities. The curator experience had taught Williams something else as well, and that was his obligation to take the broader view. Until this point he had advocated the establishment of a school of journalism chiefly because he and E. W. Stephens wanted one and they and the Missouri Press Association thought the newspaper industry needed one. But the teaching faculty at the university had not bought into the idea. More to the point, students themselves had shown no enthusiasm for a school of journalism. Although they had delighted in David McAnally's classes a generation earlier and had responded warmly to various newspaper editors who had delivered guest lectures on the campus, substantial numbers of students had never professed a keen interest in becoming a part of a formal program of education for journalism. Indeed, back in 1898, when the curators had first authorized the chair of journalism, the student newspaper, the Independent, had been sharply critical of the proposal. Perhaps student opposition had been subtly encouraged by the faculty members, a number of whom were miffed because they had not been consulted. But by 1905, when Richard Jesse finally appointed the committee to explore the possibility of establishing a school ofjournalism, Walter Williams had done his homework, soliciting faculty and student opinions and courting support from a rich variety ofsources. Not the least ofthese was his Sunday school class, with its hundreds of students and some faculty as members. Indeed, there is some evidence to suggest that he delayed pushing for the creation of a journalism school until student and faculty opinion was reasonably favorable. When Williams, who had chaired the journalism committee, delivered the report to the Board of Curators, he was certain of support across the campus. A short time later, the Independent editorially urged "a college of journalism" for the University of Missouri.3 On December 10, 1907, his flashes of temper more frequent and his health further deteriorated, Richard Henry Jesse notified the curators of his intention to resign the presidency, effective the following summer.4 A committee, chaired by Walter Williams, was appointed to lookfor a successor. Injustthree weeksa fleeting instant, as academic searches are measured-one was found. He was Albert Ross Hill, former dean of the Teachers College who had left Missouri 3. Ibid., 421. 4. There was a flurry of correspondence among the curators at this time; see especially the papers of two of...