Education: Rump College

When President Hamilton Holt of Rollins College (Winter Park, Fla.) ousted Professor John Andrew Rice last spring as a too-outspoken individualist (TIME, June 19 et seq.), he split his college into two angry factions, a large pro and a small anti. Out of the Rollins rumpus last week emerged a jump college. The antis clung together, their number increased to nine (out of a faculty of 45) by dismissals and resignations after the college year ended. They looked for financial backing and a place to settle. They found both. The site is a religious conference centre complete with buildings, golf course and lake, at Black Mountain in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge. Last week they got a charter, announced that Black Mountain College will open this month, fee $1.000.

Like the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge, Black Mountain will be governed by its faculty instead of a board of trustees. The students will have one representative. Present president and acting chairman of the faculty is Chemistry Professor Frederick Raymond Georgia. Treasurer is Theodore Dreier, nephew of Mrs. Raymond Robins (Rollins trustee, wife of the reformer who disappeared for a time with amnesia last year). Black Mountain College will emphasize Art, allow its students wide freedom in choosing courses, studying in seminars and graduating when they feel ready. Before graduating they must pass an examination in their special field set by a professor from another institution. The usual accumulation of points, courses, and credits pointing toward graduation will be abolished. The college will be coeducational. The problem of getting recognized by sectional and national associations will not be settled until the college is under way. The sponsors of Black Mountain College wish it to stand on its own merits, apart from the “Rice Case” which they are sure will be judged in their favor by the American Association of University Professors next November. Prior to announcing plans last week, the college had signed up 20 students, mostly disgruntled Rollins-ites.