The bulletin of Atlanta University, 1908 no. 178

              Number 178                                      Atlanta, Georgia                                    January, 1908 INAUGURATION  DAY Tuesday, the 31st of December, was a notable day in the history of Atlanta University. It was the occasion for the formal inauguration as third president of this institution of Edward Twichell Ware, the son of Edmund Asa Ware, the founder and first president. The morning was appropriately given to exercises in memory of the father, the afternoon to installation exercises. We wish that every friend of Atlanta University might have been present to share in the impressive and inspiring exercises of this day. The occasion brought to Atlanta University many of the graduates, all of whom were eager to pay tribute to the memory of the first president and to express their hearty interest and earnest co-operation in the work of this institution under the administration of the third president. From hundreds of friends who could not be present expressions of congratulation were received. Memorial Exercises The day was one of ideal beauty, following anight of storm; the air was crystal clear and the sun shone warm and bright. An eager and responsive audience gathered in Ware Memorial Chapel at ten o'clock in the morning to take part in the memorial exercises. Ex-President Bumstead presided and there were a few brief addresses by those who had known and worked with the first president. During the eighteen years of his service for the Negroes in Atlanta the influence of his life and character upon his pupils and co-workers was so great its power is felt in their lives today. On the campus in front of Stone Hall there is a simple granite boulder which marks the place where the first president lies buried. On the boulder is the following inscription: "The graduates of Atlanta University have brought this boulder from the native town of President Ware in Massachusetts and placed it here on Georgia soil over the spot where his earthly remains lie buried, in grateful memory of their former teacher and friend and of the unselfish life he lived and the no- ble work he wrought, that they, their children, and their children's children might be blessed." At the conclusion of the memorial exercises in the chapel, led by the Senior marshal the school marched from the building on to the campus and formed in a large hollow square about the Memorial boulder. One of the students chosen as bugler sounded taps. President Ware placed a wreath of galax leaves upon the boulder marking his father's grave. One of the Senior Normal students recited the inscription in a clear strong voice. Rev. Chas. Cuthbert Hall, D. D., led in prayer most beautifully and impressively. The whole company sang an old time resurrection song, "My Lord What a Mourning," Throughout these exercises the chapel bell tolled. Thus in the most impressive manner the exercises of the morning concluded. It was a scene which no one who witnessed could ever forget. The  Inauguration In the afternoon the inauguration took place, President Chas. Cuthbert Hall, D. D., of Union Seminary, New York, the vice-president of the Board of Trustees of Atlanta University, presiding.    The program was as follows: Academic Procession. Chorus—The Processional, "Athalie," Mendelssohn Invocation,                      Rev. George Standing Address and Presentation of the Keys and Charter, by the Vice-President of the Board of Trustees, Rev. Charles Cuthbert Hall, D. D., Of Union Theological Seminary Address on behalf of the Trustees, Professor Thomas N. Chase, A. M. Address on behalf of the Alumni, Rev. Joseph E. Smith Address on behalf of Sister Institutions, President James G. Merrill, D. D., Of Fisk University Chorus, from "The Holy City,"                  Gaul Address, Chancellor David C. Barrow, C. E., M. E., Of the University of Georgia Charge to the President, Rev. Horace Bumstead, D. D. Response and Inaugural Address, By the President Hymn. Benediction. The academic procession, led by the marshal of the Senior class, proceeded in the following order:    first, the cho- rus of one hundred and fifty students, who took seats arranged for them at the north side of the chapel. The Senior Normal and Senior College classes fol-fowed, the latter in cap and gown. After them came the faculty and teachers, the representatives of other institutions, the speakers, the ex-president and the president. We regret that we have not space in this issue for a full report of all the addresses on this occasion, but we print the charge of ex-President Bumstead and the inaugural address. Most impressive was the occasion when, at the conclusion of his charge, the ex-president grasped the young man who succeeds him by the hands, thus symbolically conferring upon the son the charge which he by a like symbol had received from the father twenty-two years before. The Charge By Ex=President Horace Bumstead President Ware :—I am commissioned to deliver to you a charge as you formally enter upon the presidency of Atlanta University. It is an agreeable task that is assigned me— all the more agreeable because of its comparative needlessness. For if I felt that you were in need of the words of counsel I am about to utter, or that you would not give them ready acceptance, I should speak with a misgiving that would be far from agreeable. But such is not the case today. At the outset I bear in mind that you are entering upon the presidency of an institution which is characterized by certain high ideals, and these I charge you to cherish, maintain, and defend. TRUTH   AS   AN   IDEAL One of these ideals is Truth. What is truth—asked Pilate. That is the question which numerous institutions of learning have for ages been trying to answer. And they have answered it—never fully but with an ever increasing fulness and never more fully than today. They have been teaching man to know himself, to know the world in which he lives, to know the universe of which his world is only a little part, and to know the God over and in man, the world and the universe. In all this they have been trying to discover and teach the truth. And these institutions to which I refer have sought and taught the truth because they believed that in and of itself the truth Continued on page 2