Emerson Elbridge White (January 10, 1829 – October 21, 1902) was an American educator and the third president of Purdue University.
Career
Ohio
Emerson White began his teaching career at the age of seventeen when he was both a student and an instructor at Twinsburg Academy in Ohio.[1]: 285 After graduating without a degree from Cleveland University in 1851, he was the principal of a few schools in the Cleveland area before serving as superintendent in Portsmouth, Ohio, from 1856 through 1861.[1]: 285 [2]: 95
As president of Purdue University in Indiana from 1876 through 1883, White worked to reorganize the young land grant college to provide a "liberal education for the industrial classes" as described in the Morrill Act. He interpreted the Morrill Act as requiring instruction in agriculture and engineering as leading elements and instruction in languages, history, and literature as subordinate elements.[2]: 89–92 While he did not believe that other fields of study were prohibited by the law, he felt that Purdue's resources were limited and should be focused on those required areas. He wanted the education to be broad enough to go beyond training for a specific job and also to prepare alumni to be good citizens.[2]: 93–94
Sixty-six students attended Purdue during White's first year (including forty-nine in its preparatory academy) and the instruction mainly consisted of fundamental science courses.[2]: 87-88, 109 White's plan reorganized Purdue's departments into a University Academy, a College of General Science, and Special Schools of Science and Technology.[2]: 92 Among the Special Schools was the School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue's first four-year course of study.[2]: 98, 110
Fraternity controversy
Believing that fraternities distracted from Purdue's industrial focus, White issued a ban on such societies that eventually led to his resignation. In 1877 he began requiring incoming students to make a written pledge not to join a Greek-letter organization.[2]: 107 An incoming graduate student in 1881 who was already a member of Sigma Chi refused to sign this pledge and was denied admission.[2]: 108 The Tippecanoe County circuit court upheld this denial, but on appeal, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that Purdue's objections to fraternities were unfounded and remanded the case.[2]: 109 [4]: 72 White responded by issuing new rules allowing fraternities but restricting the honors that their members could receive.[2]: 109 When the Indiana Senate passed an 1883 appropriation bill with a rider requiring the repeal of anti-fraternity regulations, White resigned as president.[4]: 73 The Indiana House of Representatives did not pass the appropriation bill before the legislative session ended and Purdue received no state funds that year.[4]: 73
Return to Ohio
After resigning from Purdue, White moved to Cincinnati and wrote textbooks about arithmetic and pedagogy.[1]: 286–287 During three years as superintendent of that city's public schools beginning in 1886, White reduced the use of written tests and made teachers' recommendations the basis for promoting a student to the next grade level.[1]: 286 [4]: 74 He held this job during a time when Ohio state law began to officially require racial integration in schools.[5][6]
^ abcdefghijklVenable, W. H. (January 1903). Boone, Richard C.; Palmer, Frank H. (eds.). "Emerson Elbridge White". Education: A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Science, Art, Philosophy and Literature of Education. XXIII (5). Boston: The Palmer Company: 284–289. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
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