Proceedings of the Board of Regents (1864-1870)

23

mittee hold the ability and scholarship of the late President)
they would be glad if, consistent with these interests, they could
recommiend his recall to his former position. But after the most
careful deliberation they have come to the conclusion that it is
impracticable, and believe tehat in the posture which affairs have
assumned, such an act would prove injurious to the real welfare of
the Universitv,which welfare they deem to be the legitimate subject of consideration for the Board of Regents, on the question
presented by the memorialists.
The assumption made by a portion of those who have memorialized the Board, that the University is not at present in
good condition, and does not give promise of success, appears to.your Committee to have been made without sufficient knowledge of the facts. The pressure upon the Board from the differ-,ent departments for increased facilities for the accommodation of
students, is a proof that the institution is not languishing. The
Law and Medical departments especially, under the more immec
diate direction of their several faculties, are flourishing to a degree not before paralleled since they were established. The
iyiterary and Scientific departments give no signs of that decadience mentioned by the mernorialists. Apparently the institution is prosperous; and there is a good degree of harmony in
the several departments, and among the various faculties, and
from what we can learn, after the most deliberate examination
and survey, the conviction is forced upon us unanimously that,
under all the circumstances of the case, such a change as is sought
by the memorialists, would be attended with a disturbance of
that harmony greater than has yet existed in the University.
The charge is made in several of the papers referred to your
Comrnittee, that the rules and regulations of the Board of Re-:gents confer duties asnd prerogatives belonging to the different
faculties and to the President, upon committees appointed by
the Board, and consisting mainly of members of the same. This,objection can no longer be urged, as the revised rules meet the
ulnanimous approbation, it is believed, of all the faculties of the
institution.
Your Committee feel constrained to recommend that the re