100 Years of Educational Excellence: Focus on Progress
In June of 1937, at a meeting of Principia’s Board of Trustees, senior executives, and Alumni Board members, founder Mary Kimball Morgan advised against complacency:
The mission of maintaining the high standard already demonstrated and of carrying on our work to greater excellence is the responsibility of this Board of Trustees. To permit the work to slip back into unprogressive methods or even to let it remain at the present stage of growth would be to fail in the task God has given us.
“Progressive methods” had been the norm for Principia ever since its inaugural publication in 1898 announced, “It will be the aim of the school to teach its pupils how to study, rather than to present numberless things to be studied.”
Daily schedules crafted around the learning needs of individual students, the founding of a “six-year course” for high schoolers that later became the Junior College (at that time, an uncommon institution), military training, the establishment of the four-year College, and the founding of the School of Government and School of Nations were all accomplished by the time of Mrs. Morgan’s remarks and give credence to her admonition. The most “progressive method” of all, of course, was the original establishment of a school (and later, a college) intended to "serve the Cause of Christian Science."
Since Mrs. Morgan’s remarks in 1937, the establishment of the Public Affairs Conference, the development of study abroad programs, the addition of a bachelor of science degree, the solar car program, the distinguished speaker series, the First Year Experience program, the annual Career Conference, and the introduction of online courses all demonstrate that Principia College has continually moved beyond “the present stage of growth.”
What’s next?
Some of "what's next" is already underway with a number of recently launched, forward-looking initiatives. Our membership in the Marine Sciences Education Consortium at Duke University is opening doors for students interested in marine biology. The Leadership Institute at Principia College is bringing greater focus to this vital aspect of character unfoldment and engaging students in opportunities to grow as leaders. The Teaching Excellence Center is supporting all faculty members in finding ways to challenge, inspire, and engage students through ever-more effective learning strategies. And the Principia Center for Sustainability not only provides a new platform for dialog and advocacy on environmental issues but also creates a forum for considering how a Principia College education can help students comprehend and advance this critical discipline.
“Progressive methods” are essential to educational and institutional well-being. No institution can long survive without adapting to changing conditions and revising its approach to address the needs of the day. Diligence in this regard has helped propel Principia through its first 100 years of higher education.
Here’s to the second!