visa 
 
 
 ■i ! 
 
 p 
 
 -p 5 r rf 
 
 M! & 
 
 :,s 
 
 
 M 
 
 X, 
 
 *m 
 
 
 ivv- *. / •■ ■ 
 
 •/ 
 
 
 
 FRESHMEN AND SENIORS IN THE NEGRO COLLEGES 
 IN NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 Elder 
 
 ,.£ r \. , 
 
 Klrr.iiff): ^.y^Nu/T 
 
 
 
 ssgrgf: 
 
 
 
 - < ■■ *v * 
 
 i 
 
 ■A- 
 
 Vi' 
 
 
 
 is 
 
 v.. 
 
 
 LZt 
 
 ^>S 
 
 r >> T .' 
 
 
 v * 
 
 ■ - 7 - 
 
 « k ■ 
 
 
 ggr./S^ 
 
 •-,1 
 
 ;•■:■ - I /- 
 
 ■<&;■■■■ ... 
 
 •vV . . y£*>/V 
 
 
 
 V"' •• < ? 
 
 r - r . t - • ' v ~: 
 
 .. • -•■ ^ • \7 • • ' 
 
 
 S 7‘ ! iisi# 
 
 
 % 
 
 I j|gp . ' ffjp:.■/■■ ' |J3 
 
 I Sp! ■ A p ? 4 life 
 
 .^Sp" ' l V ‘ ' 'm 7 . 
 
 •*:;•••• .••:•>.• •-• ,...*. s ^ S 8 a «.«.. •••• - a *- \/ 4 '- >'{ f . 
 
 
 ! Vffafei 
 
 
 ■'t. 
 
 v ; r . 
 
 >V,/f 
 
 
 ■:.• fff: 
 
 .VS 
 
 77 b 
 
 V 
 
 \ v *;>• ^ 
 
 s . W : 
 
 
 TtV 
 
 JK 
 
 -V } . 
 
 
 s 'V 
 
 , V * A - 
 
 
4,1 ;■ 
 
 \ 
 
 
 yt* \ 
 
 #< v 
 
Z'l 8.9 
 G3?f 
 
 -a*. ' 
 
 V.. : /‘..'/' : 
 
 
 
 v/'-V'- i'f'-'sW 
 
 • v ^ • .v •• yy •>, 
 
 ---M. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH 
 
 
 Freshmen and Seniors in 
 the Negro Colleges in 
 North Carolina 
 
 
 By 
 
 ALFONSO ELDER, MA. 
 
 Professor of Mathematics in 
 The North Carolina College for Negroes 
 
 Published by 
 
 The North Carolina College for Negroes 
 
 Durham, North Carolina 
 December, 1927 
 
®fje Htbrarp 
 
 of tf)C 
 
 Wl mbersitp of JSortb Carolina 
 
 ®jj \$ book to a# pretfentcb 
 KT.C for 
 
 Cf ew 
 
 ■ 
 
 ■ 
 
 -..;* - -v ■ 
 
 
 ■■ 
 
 j, 
 
 ;X’ ; ' 
 
 ■ 
 
 ' . .".<U ^ --V ••’V 
 
 
DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH 
 
 Freshmen and Seniors in 
 the Negro Colleges in 
 North Carolina 
 
 By 
 
 ALFONSO ELDER, M.A. 
 
 Professor of Mathematics in 
 The K[orth Carolina College for Negroes 
 
 Published by 
 
 The North Carolina College for Negroes 
 
 Durham, North Carolina 
 December, 1927 
 
\ 
 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
 
 It is a pleasure to acknowledge my indebtedness to those who 
 have helped to make this work possible. 
 
 I wish to thank the administrators of the various colleges in the 
 state for their cooperation. 
 
 I am doubly indebted to Mr. Arthur P. Davis who visited the 
 various schools largely at his own expense and who was very pains¬ 
 taking in collecting and in interpreting the replies. 
 
 I wish to thank Miss Ethel Sanders who did most of the typing; 
 Mr. Albert Robinson who gave us many interesting facts concerning 
 the Negro high schools in the state of North Carolina; and Mr. 
 James T. Taylor, Dr. D. J. Jordan, and Miss Pauline Newton who 
 very willingly read the proof of this work. 
 
 Especial mention should be made of Dr. James E. Shepard who 
 has made it possible for this work to be published. 
 
 The Editor. 
 
 *0 
 
 sO 
 
 [ 3 ] 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction . 7 
 
 Chapter I: Facts About Negro Education in North Carolina . 13 
 
 Chapter II: The Survey . 17 
 
 Chapter III: The Background of the Students . 21 
 
 The Significance of a Background. 21 
 
 Parents Living . 21 
 
 Place of Birth of Parents. 23 
 
 High School Training of Parents . 23 
 
 College Training of Parents. 24 
 
 Occupations of Parents . 25 
 
 Home Ownership . 28 
 
 Political Interests of Parents . 30 
 
 Brothers and Sisters of the Students. 31 
 
 Chapter IY: The Student in School . 32 
 
 Ages . 32 
 
 Marital Relations . 33 
 
 Economic Conditions of Students . 34 
 
 Retardation . ^ 
 
 Interest in Work. 37 
 
 Failures Expected . 38 
 
 Occupations Desired by Students . 38 
 
 Occupations of Persons Who Have Influenced the Students. 40 
 
 Reasons for Going to College. 42 
 
 Chapter V: Opinions of Students . 45 
 
 Religious . 
 
 -i 47 
 
 Moral Standards . 
 
 40 
 
 Social Equality. 
 
 Opinions of Disciplinary Rules . 50 
 
 Opinions of Teachers. °“ J 
 
 55 
 
 Chapter VI: Forecasting. . 
 
 59 
 
 Chapter VII: Tables . 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2019 with funding from 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 https://archive.org/details/freshmenseniorsiOOelde 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 What is the purpose of education? This question, although it 
 has been greatly stressed in our century, is by no means peculiar 
 to our critical age. Some phase or version of this question has been 
 the concern of the mind of man since the time when man first began 
 to think of phenomena which did not directly contribute to his food¬ 
 getting, shelter-getting, and clothing-making processes. One illus¬ 
 tration from the records of antiquity may illustrate that our re¬ 
 mote ancestors seemed somehow to have asked the same question 
 which we now ask of higher education. The story goes: At one 
 time a man of wealth requested Euclid to teach him geometry. 
 After the man had learned two or three theorems he asked Euclid, 
 “What shall I gain by learning these things?” Euclid smilingly 
 turned to his slave and said, “Give the man three obolis since he 
 must make gain of what he learns.” 
 
 Again there were certain opinions expressed against higher 
 learning during the time of Emerson. This is shown by his defence 
 in “The American Scholar” in which he says that the “colleges 
 have their indispensable office, but they can best serve us when they 
 aim not to drill but to create; when they gather to their hospitable 
 walls every ray of various genius and there, by the concentrated 
 fires, set the heart of the youth on flame.” 
 
 We, to-day, tend to ask practically the same question that was 
 asked of men in centuries past: What shall we gain through higher 
 education? It is indeed a pertinent question, and age has in no 
 way dulled its relevance. 
 
 The question has been asked: Does the college educate? In 
 order to answer this question it would be necessary to agree upon a 
 meaning of education. Milton summed up the meaning of educa¬ 
 tion in the statement, that a complete and generous education is 
 that which fits a man to perform justly, skillfully, and magnani¬ 
 mously all the offices, both private and public, of peace and war. 
 Do the colleges do this? At least it can be said that they are try¬ 
 ing and that the various changes which have come about in the 
 development of colleges are only efforts towards a fulfillment of 
 this purpose. 
 
 [ 7 ] 
 
The question of Administration has been an important one in 
 the development of colleges. The first colleges in this country were 
 established for the training of ministers, and the instructors, them¬ 
 selves ministers, were the sole dictators of administrative affairs. 
 Under this scheme it would have been unthinkable to fill a vacancy 
 on the faculty by one who Avas not a minister. It took many years 
 for this type of college to give way to a type known as the laymans’ 
 college, which was controlled by a group of citizens, and in which 
 teachers were employed in a manner which was similar to the 
 present practice. The separation between administration and in¬ 
 struction continued to increase until the two functions were com¬ 
 pletely dissociated. The administrative affairs are now handled by 
 an independent board of trustees which is composed largely of busi¬ 
 ness men. The selection of business men as trustees has been 
 largely due to the fact that business men have been able to dispose 
 satisfactorily of the increased financial burdens which have been 
 imposed upon the institutions. This solution, although seemingly 
 necessary, is by no means a permanent and satisfactory arrange¬ 
 ment, because as it may be easily realized, business men are not in 
 constant contact with educational problems. It is also true too 
 often that the presidents of colleges are business men, and very 
 likely do not possess the prime requisites of a good educator. That 
 is one side. 
 
 In favor of business men as trustees it may be said that this 
 arrangement presents a more ideal condition than any previous 
 arrangement, because under this plan the financial affairs are ade¬ 
 quately taken care of by men who are competent, and the instruc¬ 
 tional side of the institution is left entirely to those who have 
 prepared themselves for this work. 
 
 The curricula of colleges also have undergone considerable 
 changes. During the last twenty years or more college teachers and 
 administrators have experienced a rude awakening in that they 
 have been told by psychologists and educational investigators that 
 certain subjects do not possess the utilitarian, the disciplinary, and 
 the cultural values which had been assigned to them. This crusade 
 against scholastic tradition caused Harvard, as a typical case, to 
 offer all subjects as electives. This plan led to no good result. The 
 colleges, however, have not lost hope, and the opposers of tradition 
 have not ceased to decry the established order. The curricula were 
 
 [ 8 ] 
 
rearranged to meet certain standard requirements, and students 
 were granted the privilege of pursuing courses in sequence. This 
 plan gave way to an arrangement by which students might select 
 their subjects from certain groups in which were embodied, sup¬ 
 posedly, all of the elements of a liberal education. Many colleges 
 now are attempting to provide for the individual differences be¬ 
 tween students by permitting exceptional students to choose a field 
 of concentration in which unusual freedom is given the student in 
 the pursuance of his major. 
 
 In regard to discipline problems, attitudes of students, and per¬ 
 sonal contact with students there have also been radical changes. 
 The teachers in the first schools were intimately, and religiously 
 connected with the students. Advancing from this stage there de¬ 
 veloped on the part of the faculty an attitude that the students 
 must get the work or get out. The students who were subjected to 
 this regime reversely adopted an opposite plan—not to get it, and 
 not to get out, but manage in some manner to pass the final exami¬ 
 nations. 
 
 The pendulum has swung again; teachers, and administrators 
 have become increasingly interested in the students’ problems. 
 Various colleges have appointed specialists whose chief functions 
 are to encourage students, to gain the confidence of the students in 
 order that they might help them, and to promote a better under¬ 
 standing between the students and the teachers. Classes are being 
 made smaller in order to insure individual attention. The students 
 are correspondingly assuming a different attitude towards educa¬ 
 tion, and towards educators. They are no longer led to believe that 
 teachers are automata, but they are encouraged to believe that 
 teachers are kindly disposed human beings who are interested in 
 them as well as in the subject which they are teaching. 
 
 Colleges have therefore grown from small ministerial institu¬ 
 tions to great universities which embrace almost every type of learn¬ 
 ing known to man. The purpose of it all is to fit the man to per¬ 
 form those duties prescribed by Milton three hundred years ago. 
 
 The pendulum of educational practice has been swinging, and 
 the Negro colleges have attempted as best they could to swing with 
 it. As a result the Negro colleges have absorbed certain tendencies 
 from all periods. They have rejected some tendencies, either be¬ 
 cause the tendencies did not adhere to their traditional ideas of 
 
 [ 9 ] 
 
education, or because the practices were not sufficiently understood. 
 For instance, there are Negro colleges that place the major empha¬ 
 sis upon moral principles, and adherence to disciplinary rules 
 which are supposedly necessary for this moral development. There 
 are yet administrators who believe that a D.D. degree is better for 
 teaching than an M.A. degree. There are other Negro colleges that 
 adhere rigorously to curricula requirements, and are placing very 
 little emphasis upon moral training. There are others which are 
 attempting to fulfill both missions. 
 
 Athletic conditions, due to increased attendance at games and 
 to overemphasis, are presenting to large institutions problems 
 which are exceedingly complex. The Negro colleges are confronted 
 with athletic difficulties, but the difficulties are in no way similar 
 to those of the large white institutions. The difficulty which con¬ 
 front the Negro colleges is the problem of finding sufficient funds 
 for the maintenance of a representative department of physical 
 education. 
 
 The Negro colleges in North Carolina are not exceptions, 
 although the standardization efforts on the part of the state have 
 greatly decreased deviations in curricula requirements. It should 
 be said that the Negro colleges are seriously handicapped in their 
 efforts to maintain the standards set by the white colleges: first, 
 because the appropriations necessary for equipment similar to that 
 of the white colleges are not secured, and second, because the sala¬ 
 ries of the teachers are not large enough for the teachers to do 
 special work in the larger institutions. 
 
 The universality of the meagerness of appropriations for Negro 
 schools begets poorly trained teachers who are to teach students 
 poorly. The students in turn become poorly trained teachers and 
 so on. 
 
 These questions of the validity of education, of administration, 
 of instruction, and of ideals are indeed pertinent, and the solutions 
 are neither immediate nor entirely apparent. It is questionable 
 whether any one institution is maintaining the proper balance be¬ 
 tween the emphasis which should be placed upon book learning, 
 and upon character development. It is doubtful whether any one 
 knows the absolute value of a college education. However, there 
 must be good reasons why 600,000 people in America alone are in 
 
 [ 10 ] 
 
institutions of higher learning. If these are questions, and most 
 assuredly these are, they should be met fairly and it is the inviola¬ 
 ble duty of every institution of higher learning to investigate its 
 “raison d’etre,” and then try to determine what subject matter 
 is indispensable for culture and for utility. 
 
 Alfonso Elder. 
 
 [HI 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 FACTS ABOUT NEGRO EDUCATION IN NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 In recent years the state of North Carolina has made tremen¬ 
 dous strides in education. Of all the states possessing dual systems 
 of public education it is admittedly the most progressive. The edu¬ 
 cators in the state have so interested themselves in Negro education 
 that it is now said that North Carolina no longer has a Negro 
 problem but a Negro program. 
 
 One must remember, however, that educational progress is 
 always relative and the progress made by North Carolina may be 
 considered positive only upon the condition that the increase in 
 educational facilities has surpassed the increase in the population, 
 and revenue of the state. In addition one must take into account 
 the progress made by other states. All of these things must be 
 considered thoroughly before one can safely comment upon the 
 progress made by North Carolina in the field of education, and 
 particularly in the field of Negro education. 
 
 This is a question which can not be settled here. What we can 
 say, however, is that relatively the state is doing more for Negro 
 education than it did ten years ago. 
 
 ^ The enrollment in the Negro high schools has increased con¬ 
 siderably in the last few years. From 1923 to 1927 the enrollment 
 in the Negro high schools has increased from 7367 to 12,500. The 
 number of high school graduates has increased from 861 in 1924 to 
 1627 in 1927. In June 1928 approximately 1900 pupils will gradu¬ 
 ate from the Negro high schools in this state. 
 
 There are at present 800,000 Negroes in the state of North 
 Carolina; approximately 250,000 are in the elementary schools; 
 12,500 are in the high schools; 1,200 to 1,500 are in colleges; and 
 approximately 109 will graduate in June from colleges in this state. 
 
 The proportion in this state between the number of Negroes in 
 college and the total number of Negroes is decidedly lower than the 
 proportion in America of the number of students in college to the 
 total population of this country. There are practically 600,000 
 students in institutions of higher learning in America. If this 
 
 [ 13 ] 
 
number is compared with the total number of persons in America 
 (115 million) it will be found that approximately one person in 
 every group of 191 persons is in college. If a similar comparison 
 is made between the number of Negroes in the state of North Caro¬ 
 lina and the number of Negroes of North Carolina who are in col¬ 
 leges it will be found that approximately one Negro in every group 
 of 509 North Carolina Negroes is in an institution of higher learn¬ 
 ing. 
 
 CHART X 
 
 Yearly Growth in High School 
 Enrollment 
 
 IJooo • 
 5 izooo . 
 
 
 1 1000 
 
 
 IOOOO 
 
 
 9000 
 
 v> 
 
 8000 
 
 c 
 
 * 
 
 7000 
 
 
 6000 
 
 «o 
 
 sooo 
 
 
 4000 
 
 to 
 
 3000 
 
 -0 
 
 2.000 
 
 
 1000 
 
 0 
 
 - ■ - » —»- * 
 
 
 7- 
 
 
 
 t- 
 
 00 
 
 w 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 • 
 
 M 
 
 i 
 
 y 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 N> 
 
 fc* 
 
 'V 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 N 
 
 <5> 
 
 
 
 6> 
 
 ft 
 
 ft 
 
 Years 
 
 Yet one often hears the assertion that too many Negroes are go¬ 
 ing to college. After all who knows just what per cent of the people 
 should go to college? This assertion is often made as a statement 
 of fact and a substantiation is attempted on the basis of the as¬ 
 sumptions : first, that if most of the Negroes go to college there will 
 not be left a sufficient number of Negroes to supply the demand for 
 skilled and unskilled labor; second, that there will not be enough 
 
 [ 14 ] 
 
CHART U 
 
 rKss /delations of the Students 
 to the People 
 
 1928 
 
 Hundred G of Persons 
 
 A ~The entire rectangle QX 10 rep — 
 resents the totil number op 
 Negroes in hJorth Ca.ro/in & 
 
 B~The number in elemen~tar_j schools. 
 
 C~The 11 umber- i n high schools. 
 
 D 'The rturnier in colleges. 
 
 jobs for the college graduates. The latter reason will be discussed 
 later under Forecasting, but the following estimations will be suf¬ 
 ficient to contradict the first point, that there will not be enough 
 
 Negroes to constitute the laboring class : 
 
 [ 15 ] 
 
In 1917, 63,000 sudents were in the first grade. 
 
 In 1924, 4,221 of these graduated from the seventh grade. 
 
 In 1928, 1,900 will graduate from high school. 
 
 In 1928, 968 will enter college. 
 
 In 1932, 494 will graduate from college. 
 
 This fact alone, that only 494 of the 63,000 children who enter 
 the first grade wull probably graduate from college, is sufficient to 
 show to those who believe in the importance of the laboring class 
 that the laboring class will not be neglected, if such be one of the 
 chief functions of the Negro race. 
 
 The enrollment in the colleges in this state has increased with 
 greater rapidity than the enrollment in the high schools. During 
 the school year of 1923-24 approximately 208 students entered the 
 freshman classes in six colleges in this state. In September 1927 a 
 total of 405 students entered the freshman college classes in seven 
 colleges in this state. In 1923-24 there were 7367 pupils enrolled 
 in the Negro high schools in this state and in 1927 the total enroll¬ 
 ment in the Negro high schools was 12,500. 
 
 [ 16 ] 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE SURVEY 
 
 With the recent great increase in attendance at Negro colleges, 
 and with the subsequent great interest in Negro education which 
 has come about in the last few years, there has come a host of rather 
 disturbing problems relative to Negro education in the state. This 
 survey is an attempt to throw some light, or rather to give some 
 insight into these perplexing questions. 
 
 The purpose of this study was threefold: first, to promote a 
 better understanding of the students who are entering the Negro 
 colleges in the state of North Carolina through an investigation of 
 various factors which have contributed to the students’ develop¬ 
 ment ; second, to contrast the results or conclusions obtained from 
 the freshman group with those of the senior group, and thereby try 
 to determine in some small measure, (a) the effect which four years 
 of college training has produced, and (b) the difference between 
 the character of the students who are entering now and those who 
 entered four years ago; third and perhaps the most important, to 
 encourage in the Negro colleges subsequent investigations in edu¬ 
 cational affairs so that the institutions may come themselves to 
 know the problems which are facing them and through this knowl¬ 
 edge take steps to solve them, thereby serving more efficiently the 
 race and the commonwealth. 
 
 It was not intended especially in this study to theorize on con¬ 
 clusions resulting from the comparisons between the data of the 
 freshmen and those of the seniors, because it is realized that, at 
 best, scientific conclusions are tentative, and that the results of the 
 students who are now freshmen would have to be compared with 
 the results obtained from the same students in their senior year if 
 the conclusions are to approach the degree of accuracy desired. 
 However, the facts were found to differ sufficiently for earnest 
 consideration and unquestionably furnish a sound basis for action. 
 
 When the survey was planned it was definitely understood that 
 the present freshmen would be investigated similarly in four years 
 from the time of the present inquiry. It was also understood that 
 
 [ 17 ] 
 
the present senior students would be investigated four years hence 
 in order to compare the students’ attitudes, and ideals while they are 
 in school with the attitudes and ideals of the same students after 
 they have had some experience in meeting the problems of life. 
 
 The questions which were asked of the freshmen were answered 
 anonymously in order to secure the most accurate opinions, and to 
 remove all fear of consequences which might accrue from certain 
 types of answers. 
 
 It is hoped that the comparisons between the answer of the 
 seniors and the future answers of the same students in four years 
 will definitely point out to the colleges that certain tendencies are 
 almost universal; that colleges must concentrate on certain phases 
 of their work, and finally should eliminate other types of training 
 if they are to prepare adequately the student for a useful life and a 
 nobler leisure. Finally, it should be understood that it is not 
 claimed that within the bounds of this study lie all the facts rela¬ 
 tive to the discussion, but it is hoped that the study will be con¬ 
 sidered as merely a straw cast into the breeze to see which way the 
 wind is blowing. 
 
 Table I presents the distribution of the students investigated. 
 Only students who are pursuing a liberal arts course were investi¬ 
 gated. 
 
 The Questionnaire 
 
 Social 
 
 Sex.Age.Are you married?. 
 
 At what age do you expect to marry?. Have you decided upon 
 
 the person you hope to marry?. 
 
 Training 
 
 Present classification . 
 
 Number of brothers above 17 years of age. 
 
 Number of brothers in college. 
 
 Number of brothers who are college graduates... 
 
 Number of sisters above 17 years of age. 
 
 Number of sisters in college. 
 
 Number of sisters who are college graduates. 
 
 Number of school years lost while attending college. 
 
 Number of school years lost while attending high school. 
 
 Give reason for loss of time in college. 
 
 Give reason for loss of time in high school. 
 
 [ 18 ] 
 
Parents 
 
 Mother 
 
 Living or deceased?. 
 
 Occupation? .. 
 
 Where born? . 
 
 High school graduate? 
 
 College graduate? . 
 
 What college? . 
 
 Father 
 
 Living or deceased ?. 
 
 Occupation? . 
 
 Where born? . 
 
 High school graduate? . 
 
 College graduate? . 
 
 What college? . 
 
 Economic 
 
 Are you self supporting?. 
 
 Relation of person responsible for your bills?. 
 
 Did you work last summer?. How much did you save?. 
 
 Does your father or guardian own his own home?. 
 
 Number of rooms?. 
 
 Ambition 
 
 What occupation has the strongest appeal for you?. 
 
 Are you taking courses necessary for this work?. 
 
 If not, why not?.. 
 
 Name of person who has had the greatest influence on your life?. 
 
 . Occupation?.. 
 
 Do you expect to graduate from college?. 
 
 Do you desire to live in North Carolina after graduation?. 
 
 Religious 
 
 Do religious services interest you?. Are you a member of 
 
 any church?.What denomination?. 
 
 Do your parents attend church regularly?.Do you feel that 
 
 “religion” is absolutely necessary in your life?. 
 
 Do you belong to the Y. M. C. A. or the Y. W. C. A.?. 
 
 Political 
 
 Do your parents discuss voting at home?. 
 
 Do they vote?. 
 
 Opinion 
 
 What does the term “social equality” mean to you?. 
 
 It is necessary for the Negro?. 
 
 Should women have the same moral standard now accepted for men? 
 . Wiry have you come to college?. 
 
 Why did you select this college?. 
 
 Underline the one which expresses your opinion of the present college rules: 
 The present disciplinary rules of this college are (necessary for the stu¬ 
 dents’ best development); (too loose); (improperly administered); 
 
 ( )• 
 
 [ 19 ] 
 
On a whole do you believe that your teachers are good examples of man¬ 
 hood and womanhood? 
 
 Your male teachers?.(answer yes or no) 
 
 Your female teachers?.(answer yes or no) 
 
 Table 1 
 
 Cases Considered 
 
 FRESHMEN 
 
 Male 
 
 Female 
 
 Total 
 
 A. and T. College. 
 
 . 46 
 
 
 46 
 
 Bennett College . 
 
 
 33 
 
 33 
 
 Johnson C. Smith University. 
 
 . 78 
 
 
 78 
 
 Kittrell College . 
 
 . 6 
 
 12 
 
 18 
 
 Livingstone College . 
 
 . 22 
 
 16 
 
 38 
 
 North Carolina College for Negroes . 
 
 . 29 
 
 31 
 
 60 
 
 Shaw University . 
 
 . 35 
 
 52 
 
 87 
 
 Total . 
 
 . 216 
 
 144 
 
 360 
 
 SENIORS 
 
 Male 
 
 Female 
 
 Total 
 
 A. and T. College. 
 
 . 9 
 
 
 9 
 
 Johnson C. Smith University . 
 
 . 30 
 
 
 30 
 
 Kittrell College . 
 
 . 4 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 Livingstone College . 
 
 . 13 
 
 3 
 
 16 
 
 Shaw University.. 
 
 . 19 
 
 28 
 
 47 
 
 Total .. 
 
 . 75 
 
 34 
 
 109 
 
 Grand Total. 
 
 .(291) 
 
 (178) 
 
 (469) 
 
 [ 20 ] 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 BACKGROUND OF STUDENTS 
 The Significance of a Background 
 
 No one can say definitely that the predominant characteristics 
 of children are reversions to ancestral states, and on the other hand 
 no one is sure that environment adequately explains their intel¬ 
 lectual lives. It may be said with a certainty that both factors are 
 tremendously important, and that educators should not fail to take 
 cognizance of these factors in the educational guidance of the 
 youth. It is especially true that the background of the Negro youth 
 does not wholly determine the intellectual life of the young Negro, 
 because the advantages of the present young Negro are decidedly 
 superior to those had by his parents during the early years of their 
 lives. It is also true that Negroes in certain communities in this 
 state have not had the economic, and cultural advantages which 
 have been enjoyed by Negroes in certain other communities. While 
 it will not be attempted by means of the following results to de¬ 
 termine the possibilities of the Negro on the basis of his ancestors, 
 it will be attempted to place at the disposal of earnest educators 
 sufficient facts for their reflection, and to point out the necessity 
 for further investigation along the several lines. It is important 
 to know the various types of students in colleges, to know what 
 their preparation is, to know what their parents are, and to under¬ 
 stand the nature of their ambitions, and opinions. 
 
 Before going further it should be said that one of the most im¬ 
 portant achievements of the Negro and the one least thought of 
 when Negro achievement is mentioned is the establishment, and 
 maintenance of a permanent family life. In the short interval 
 from the time when sexual promiscuity and exploitation were pre¬ 
 valent, the Negro, corresponding to other cultural people, has estab¬ 
 lished a family life with traditions to uphold which are as lofty, 
 and as ideal as those maintained by any other group of people. 
 
 Parents Living 
 
 Of the 938 parents of the 469 freshmen, and seniors investi¬ 
 gated, 720 are living. This means approximately that there are 
 
eight living fathers and mothers to every group of ten parents of 
 the freshmen. A similar comparison between the living parents of 
 the seniors, and the total number of parents reveals a ratio which 
 approximates 7 to 10. 
 
 Comparisons between the number of living fathers and living 
 mothers show considerable variations. There are 38 more mothers 
 of the freshmen living than fathers. This predominance in the 
 freshman group of the number of living mothers over the number 
 of living fathers is exactly opposite the results of the senior par¬ 
 ents. Among the parents of the seniors it was found that 4 more 
 fathers of the seniors are living than mothers. While the results 
 show that a greater per cent of the parents of the freshmen are 
 living than the parents of the seniors, it is to be noted that 51 per 
 cent of the living parents of the seniors are fathers, and that only 
 46 per cent of the living parents of the freshmen are fathers. Two 
 major causes may be cited as reasons for the above variations : first, 
 the number of living fathers of the freshmen is less than the num¬ 
 ber of living mothers, because the occupations of the men are such 
 that would cause them to be exposed more frequently; second, the 
 nearly equal number of living fathers, and mothers of the seniors 
 is probably above normal, and doubtless indicates that a father’s 
 support is an important factor in a student’s school attendance. 
 
 Table 2 
 
 Parents Living 
 
 PARENTS OF FRESHMEN 
 
 Fathers 
 
 Living 
 
 Mothers 
 
 Living 
 
 Total 
 
 Male Students . 
 
 ... 156 
 
 183 
 
 339 
 
 Female Students . 
 
 ... 110 
 
 121 
 
 231 
 
 Total. 
 
 .. 266 
 
 304 
 
 570 
 
 Total cases considered: 360 fathers, 360 mothers. 
 
 
 
 Table 3 
 
 
 
 
 Parents Living 
 
 
 
 
 PARENTS OF SENIORS 
 
 Fathers 
 
 Living 
 
 Mothers 
 
 Living 
 
 Total 
 
 Male Students . 
 
 ... 52 
 
 51 
 
 103 
 
 Female Students. 
 
 ... 25 
 
 22 
 
 47 
 
 Total . 
 
 ... 77 
 
 73 
 
 150 
 
 Total cases considered: 109 mothers, and 109 fathers. 
 
 [ 22 ] 
 
Place of Birth 
 
 Of the 938 parents of the students investigated, 555 were born 
 in North Carolina, i.e. sixty-one percent of the parents of the 
 freshmen were born in North Carolina. On the other hand only 51 
 percent of the parents of the seniors were born in this state. Prom 
 the results presented in Tables 4, and 5 it may be easily seen in 
 
 each group that more mothers were born in North Carolina than 
 fathers. 
 
 Table 4 
 
 Parents Born in North Carolina 
 FRESHMEN 
 
 Parents of— 
 
 Fathers 
 
 Mothers 
 
 Total 
 
 Male Students . 
 
 
 
 oa n 
 
 Female Students . 
 
 
 JL uO 
 
 1 09 
 
 909 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 JL \Ju 
 
 227 
 
 Li VjLi 
 
 443 
 
 Total cases considered: 360 mothers, and 360 fathers. 
 
 Table 5 
 
 Parents Born in North Carolina 
 SENIORS 
 
 Parents of— 
 
 Fathers 
 
 Mothers 
 
 Total 
 
 Male Students . 
 
 
 36 
 
 72 
 
 Female Students . 
 
 
 21 
 
 40 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 57 
 
 112 
 
 Total cases considered: 109 fathers, and 109 mothers. 
 
 High School Training of Parents 
 
 A greater proportion of the parents of the freshmen are high 
 school graduates than the parents of the seniors. Of 720 parents 
 of the freshmen, 310 or 43 per cent are high school graduates. Of 
 218 parents of the seniors only 87 or 39 per cent are high school 
 graduates. 
 
 There are noticeable variations between the amount of schooling 
 which the parents of the girls have received and the amount which 
 the parents of the boys have received. Between one and two per 
 cent more parents of the freshmen girls have graduated from high 
 school than the parents of the freshmen boys. In the senior group, 
 15 per cent more of the parents of the girls are high school gradu¬ 
 ates than the parents of the boys. 
 
 [ 23 ] 
 
Table 6 
 
 High School Training of Parents 
 FRESHMEN 
 
 
 »*-’ Fathers 
 
 •>-' H. S. Grad. 
 
 Mothers 
 
 H. S. Grad. 
 
 Total 
 
 Male Students .... 
 
 . 81 
 
 102 
 
 183 
 
 Female Students . .. 
 
 . 59 
 
 68 
 
 127 
 
 Total. 
 
 . 140 
 
 170 
 
 310 
 
 Total cases considered: 360 mothers, and 360 fathers. 
 
 
 
 
 Table 7 
 
 
 
 
 High School Training of Parents 
 
 
 
 
 SENIORS 
 
 Fathers 
 H. S. Grad. 
 
 Mothers 
 
 H. S. Grad. 
 
 Total 
 
 Male Students. 
 
 . 28 
 
 26 
 
 54 
 
 Female Students .. 
 
 . 17 
 
 16 
 
 33 
 
 Total. 
 
 . 45 
 
 42 
 
 87 
 
 1 Total cases considered: 109 fathers, and 109 mothers. 
 
 College Training of Parents 
 
 Only a very few of the parents of the students investigated are 
 college graduates. Of the 720 fathers and mothers of the fresh¬ 
 men, 83 are college graduates. Of the 218 parents of the seniors 
 investigated, 23 are college graduates. Fifty-one per cent of the 
 parents of the freshmen who are college graduates, and 69 per cent 
 of the parents of the seniors who are college graduates received 
 their college training in North Carolina colleges. 
 
 While, from preceding data, it has been shown that more 
 mothers are high school graduates than fathers, the facts concern¬ 
 ing college graduation reveal opposite tendencies. The fathers con¬ 
 stitute 66 per cent of the parents of the freshmen who are college 
 graduates, and 91 per cent of the parents of the seniors who are 
 college graduates. From these results it is evident that more 
 women go to high school than men, but more men tend towards a 
 higher education than women. These conditions are not unex¬ 
 pected and will continue, because at the present time there are in 
 this state more men in college than women. 
 
 There is not a great difference between the per cent of the par¬ 
 ents of the boys who are college graduates and the per cent of the 
 parents of the girls who are college graduates. Among the parents 
 
 [ 24 ] 
 
of the freshmen there are 2 per cent more parents of the boys who 
 are college graduates than the parents of the girls. Among the 
 seniors the per cents are equal. 
 
 Table 8 
 
 Parents Who Are College Graduates 
 FRESHMEN 
 
 Parents of— 
 
 Male Students . 
 
 Fathers 
 
 Mothers 
 
 1 Q 
 
 Total 
 
 Female Students . 
 
 
 9 
 
 04: 
 
 9Q 
 
 
 
 LJ 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 28 
 
 83 
 
 Total cases considered: 720 fathers, and mothers. 
 
 Table 9 
 
 Parents Who Are College Graduates 
 SENIORS 
 
 Male Students. 
 
 Fathers 
 
 Mothers 
 
 2 
 
 Total 
 
 16 
 
 Female Students . 
 
 
 0 
 
 7 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 2 
 
 23 
 
 Total cases considered: 
 
 218 mothers, and fathers. 
 
 
 
 Occupations of Parents 
 
 The occupations of the fathers of the freshmen are distributed 
 over 54 different lines of work. There are 24 occupations such as 
 carpentry, masonry, and mechanics for which schools offer training 
 and which may be classified as skilled occupations. There are, how¬ 
 ever, only 5 occupations such as teaching, and the practice of 
 medicine of the 54 for which academic training is essential. It was 
 found concerning the occupations of the fathers of the freshmen, 
 that 16 per cent are farmers; that 14 per cent are ministers; and 
 that 11 per cent are laborers. Table 12 presents a relative distribu¬ 
 tion of the major occupations of the fathers of the freshmen. 
 
 Table 12 
 
 Occupations of the Fathers of the Freshmen 
 
 Occupation 
 
 Number 
 
 Fnrmprs . 
 
 . 53 
 
 IVTi ni stpr<a . 
 
 . 44 
 
 T.nhnrprs . 
 
 . 36 
 
 Carpenters . 
 
 . 19 
 
 [ 25 ] 
 
Teachers . 16 
 
 Brick Masons . 14 
 
 Barbers . 12 
 
 Contractors . 12 
 
 Doctors . 8 
 
 Mechanics . 8 
 
 Others below* . 6 
 
 If the proportions of the Negroes engaged in various occupations 
 without regard to education is compared with the results of Table 
 12, it will be seen that the deductions are not what they might 
 appear upon casual reflection. It should not be concluded that the 
 farmers are sending their children to college in greater proportions 
 than any other group, because it is unquestionably true that there 
 are decidedly more Negroes engaged in farming than there are 
 Negroes engaged in any other line of work. It may justly be con¬ 
 cluded that the number of farmers certainly exceed the number of 
 ministers by a per cent which is greater than 2, although this is 
 the result obtained from the facts in Table 12. If this is true then 
 a greater proportion of the ministers are sending their children to 
 college than the proportion of the farmers. It is also true that the 
 number of laborers among the Negroes in North Carolina is second 
 to the number of farmers. This accounts for the relatively high 
 position of the laboring class in Table 12. The teachers constitute 
 about 5 per cent of the fathers of the freshmen. When it is con¬ 
 sidered that less than 2 per cent of all the Negroes in North Caro¬ 
 lina are teachers it will be evident that a greater per cent of the 
 teachers are sending their children to college than the average 
 group. A similar conclusion is reached for the medical doctors and 
 dentists, because the doctors and dentists constitute approximately 
 .02 of one per cent of the Negro population of North Carolina. The 
 results of the study show that 2 per cent of the fathers of the 
 freshmen are medical doctors. 
 
 The occupations of the mothers are not distributed over a range 
 of activities as wide as the range of the occupations of the fathers. 
 The mothers of the freshmen are engaged in 18 different occupa¬ 
 tions. Of 243 replies there were 85 which indicated that the mother 
 was not engaged in work outside the home. The mothers of the 
 freshmen are engagd in only 4 skilled occupations, and there is only 
 
 * Table 43 presents a complete array of the occupations. 
 
 [26] 
 
one occupation of all the activities of the mothers of the freshmen 
 for which academic training is essential. That occupation is teach¬ 
 ing. Twenty-four per cent of the mothers of the freshmen are 
 teachers. 
 
 Table 13 presents a distribution of the major occupations of the 
 mothers of the freshmen. 
 
 Table 13 
 
 Occupations of the Mothers of Freshmen 
 
 Teachers . 60 
 
 Seamstresses . 33 
 
 Farmers . 18 
 
 Servants . 13 
 
 Hair Dressers . 6 
 
 Others below 4* - 
 
 Total . 243* 
 
 The relative distribution of the occupations of the parents of 
 the seniors vary from the distribution of the occupations of the 
 parents of the freshmen. Ministers occupy the first place in the 
 distribution of the occupations of the fathers of the seniors. This 
 fact suggests that the children of ministers remain in school much 
 longer than the children of either laborers or farmers. While it 
 was found that 16 of the fathers of the seniors are ministers it was 
 also found that 13 of the 16 fathers who are ministers are fathers 
 of male students. 
 
 If the occupations of the fathers of the seniors are compared 
 with the occupations of the fathers of the freshmen, it will be found 
 that the fathers of the freshmen are engaged in 33 more different 
 occupations than the fathers of the seniors. It will also be seen 
 that the fathers of the freshmen are engaged in 9 more skilled occu¬ 
 pations than the fathers of the seniors. These particular com¬ 
 parisons, while they show considerable variations, do not con¬ 
 clusively show class differences, because of the numerical inequality 
 of the two groups. 
 
 The occupations of the fathers of the seniors are distributed 
 among 21 different occupations. Thirteen of these occupations are 
 skilled occupations, and there are only 2 occupations which require 
 academic training. The major occupations of the fathers of the 
 seniors are presented in Table 14. 
 
 * Table number 43 presents the complete array. 
 
 [27] 
 
Table 14 
 
 Occupations of the Fathers of the Seniors 
 
 Occupation 
 
 Ministers . 
 
 Farmers . 
 
 Laborers . 
 
 Doctors . 
 
 Barbers . 
 
 Merchants . 
 
 Others below 2* 
 
 Total. 
 
 Number 
 
 16 
 
 12 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 72 
 
 The mothers of the seniors are engaged in 11 different occupa¬ 
 tions. Seven occupations of this number are occupations for which 
 school training may be received, and there are 2 occupations among 
 the 11 for which academic training is necessary. 
 
 Thirty-seven per cent of the mothers of the seniors are not en¬ 
 gaged in work outside their homes. This per cent of the mothers 
 of the seniors who remain at home is 2 per cent greater than the 
 per cent of the mothers of the freshmen who remain at home. 
 
 Table 15 
 
 Distribution of the Major Occupations of the Mothers of the Seniors 
 
 Occupation Number 
 
 Teaching . 9 
 
 Dress Making. 7 
 
 Business. 3 
 
 Farming . 2 
 
 Nursing . 2 
 
 Serving . 2 
 
 Others below 2* - 
 
 Total. 45 
 
 Home Ownership 
 
 A greater percentage of the parents of the seniors own their 
 homes than the parents of the freshmen. Of 360 freshmen replies, 
 319 indicated that their parents owned their homes. This means 
 that only 11 per cent of the parents of the freshmen do not own 
 their homes. Of the 109 replies of the seniors, 98 replies or 89 per 
 cent indicated that the parents own their homes. 
 
 It was found that the parents of the seniors who own their 
 homes live in larger houses than a similar group of the parents of 
 the freshmen. The average number of rooms occupied by the par¬ 
 ents of the freshmen home owners is between 7 and 8 and the 
 
 * See Table number 44. 
 
 [ 28 ] 
 
average number of rooms occupied by the parents of the seniors 
 who own their homes is between 8 and 9. 
 
 Interesting results were obtained by comparing the number of 
 the boys’ parents who own their homes with the number of girls’ 
 parents who are home owners. 
 
 The comparisons showed that 10 per cent more of the parents 
 of the freshman girls own their homes than the parents of the 
 freshman boys. An opposite result was obtained in the senior 
 group, for it was found that one per cent more of the parents of 
 the boys owned their homes than the parents of the girls. It is 
 interesting also to note that the average number of rooms in the 
 homes occupied by the parents of the girls is slightly greater than 
 the average for the parents of the boys. 
 
 These results suggest that the parents of the senior students are 
 in better circumstances than the parents of the freshmen, and that 
 the girls in college are from families which are more independent 
 economically than the boys. While it may be stated without con¬ 
 tradiction that there is a direct proportion between home ownership 
 and the tendency to educate children, we may also conclude that 
 there is a direct relation between home ownership and the number 
 of rooms occupied. The investigation showed that the average 
 number of rooms occupied by parents of the freshmen who do not 
 
 own their homes is 6. 
 
 Table 16 
 
 Home Ownership 
 FRESHMEN 
 
 Cases 
 
 Owns 
 
 Number of 
 
 
 considered 
 
 Homes 
 
 Rooms 
 
 Boys’ Parents . 
 
 . 216 
 
 185 
 
 1,232 
 
 Girls ’ Parents . 
 
 . 144 
 
 134 
 
 1,016 
 
 Total. 
 
 . 360 
 
 319 
 
 2,248 
 
 
 Table 17 
 
 Home Ownership 
 
 SENIORS 
 
 Cases 
 
 Owns 
 
 Number of 
 
 
 considered 
 
 Homes 
 
 Rooms 
 
 Boys’ Parents. 
 
 . 75 
 
 67 
 
 497 
 
 Girls ’ Parents . 
 
 . 34 
 
 31 
 
 269 
 
 Total. 
 
 . 109 
 
 98 
 
 766 
 
 It can hardly be 
 
 Political Interests of Parents 
 said that the number of 
 
 voters 
 
 among the 
 
 Negroes is a measure 
 
 of the intelligence of the group, 
 
 because the 
 
 
 [29] 
 
 
 
conditions militating against the Negro voter are not the same as 
 those operating against voters in other groups. It can be safely 
 said, however, that a group of Negroes which discusses political 
 situations and conditions affecting general civil improvement, is 
 more intelligent than a group which does not discuss similar 
 problems. 
 
 It was found that decidedly more interest is manifested in 
 political situations by the Negroes in North Carolina than the re¬ 
 sults of the polls would indicate. Of 338 freshmen replies, 277 
 replied that their parents frequently discuss political situations. 
 Of the same 338 replies there were only 196 students who remem¬ 
 bered that their parents had taken an active interest in voting. 
 These results indicate that 81 per cent of the parents of the fresh¬ 
 men are interested in politics and that 57 per cent vote. The per 
 cent of the parents of the freshmen who vote is 6 per cent higher 
 than the computed per cent of the eligible voters in the United 
 States who vote. Among the parents of the seniors it was found 
 that 78 per cent are interested in politics and that 54 per cent of 
 them vote. A greater proportion of the parents of the freshmen 
 discuss political situations and vote than the parents of the seniors, 
 these per cents indicate that the parents of the freshmen have a 
 more constructive interest in politics than the parents of the seniors. 
 
 The parents of the girls are more interested in political situ¬ 
 ations, and vote more frequently than the parents of the boys. In 
 the freshman group, the per cent of the girls’ parents who vote is 3 
 per cent greater than the per cent of the boys’ parents. In the 
 senior group a similar comparison between the parents of the boys 
 and the parents of the girls showed that 6 per cent more votes come 
 from the parents of the girls than come from the parents of the 
 
 boys. 
 
 Table 18 
 
 Political Interest of Parents 
 FR'ESHMEN 
 
 Number of Parents Who 
 Discuss Yoting 
 
 Replies 
 
 Number of 
 Voters 
 
 Male Students .. 
 Female Students 
 
 203 
 
 135 
 
 162 
 
 115 
 
 115 
 
 80 
 
 Total 
 
 338 
 
 277 
 
 196 
 
 [ 30 ] 
 
Male Students . 
 Female Students 
 
 Table 19 
 
 Political Interest of Parents 
 SENIORS 
 
 Number of Parents Who 
 Discuss Voting 
 
 Number of 
 
 Replies Voters 
 
 . 67 51 35 
 
 . 32 27 19 
 
 Total. 99 78 54 
 
 Brothers and Sisters 
 
 It is a fact, generally speaking, that the Negro students who are 
 attending college in North Carolina are selected from families with 
 a low intellectual background, and it is also true that they are 
 selected from their brothers, and sisters, who, in a large proportion, 
 have not had, and are not having the advantages of a college edu¬ 
 cation. Among the brothers and sisters of the freshmen there are 
 practically as many brothers of college age who are not in college, 
 and who have not graduated from college as there are students in 
 the freshman class. It was found that the brothers and sisters of 
 the seniors are in college in larger proportions than the brothers 
 and sisters of the freshmen. These results are presented in Tables 
 20 and 21. 
 
 Table 20 
 
 Brothers of College Age 
 
 
 Number 
 
 Number 
 
 Number 
 
 
 of 
 
 in 
 
 of College 
 
 
 Brothers 
 
 College 
 
 Graduates 
 
 Freshmen Students. 
 
 . 262 
 
 86 
 
 54 
 
 Senior Students. 
 
 . 132 
 
 49 
 
 12 
 
 Total. 
 
 . 394 
 
 135 
 
 66 
 
 Table 21 
 
 Sisters of College Age 
 
 
 Number 
 
 Number 
 
 Number 
 
 
 of 
 
 in 
 
 of College 
 
 
 Sisters 
 
 College 
 
 Graduates 
 
 Freshmen Students. 
 
 . 206 
 
 67 
 
 47 
 
 Senior Students. 
 
 . 110 
 
 31 
 
 22 
 
 Total. 
 
 . 316 
 
 98 
 
 68 
 
 [ 31 ] 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE STUDENT IN SCHOOL 
 
 In the previous chapter the background of the freshmen and the 
 seniors has been discussed in the light of many rays which are 
 doubtless influential in forming their intellectual lives. There are 
 many questions which might be asked of students, and in the fol¬ 
 lowing topics an attempt will be made to present such factors that 
 will be helpful in deducing rational conclusions. 
 
 Ages 
 
 The ages of the freshmen are distributed over a range from 16 
 years to 35 years. The ages of the seniors are distributed over a 
 range from 20 years to 35 years. Table 22 presents the averages 
 for each class. 
 
 Table 22 
 
 Average Ages 
 
 FRESHMEN Average Age 
 
 Male . 20 years 4 months 
 
 Female . 18 years 3 months 
 
 Students . 19 years 6 months 
 
 SENIORS 
 
 Male . 23 years 11 months 
 
 Female . 21 years 6 months 
 
 Students . 23 years 5 months 
 
 The above results seemingly point to the conclusions that the 
 average age of the seniors four years back was practically the same 
 as the present average age of the freshmen. This, however, is not a 
 correct conclusion, because the freshmen who are now between the 
 ages of 24 and 35 will doubtless withdraw from school in larger 
 proportions than any other group. The fact that the range of the 
 ages of the seniors is not as great as the range of the ages of the 
 freshmen points to that conclusion. If this is true, then it is easily 
 seen that the present freshman class in four years will have an 
 average age which will be below the present average age of the 
 seniors. If a similar process of reasoning is applied it may be con¬ 
 cluded that four years ago the average age of the freshman class 
 was decidedly above 19 years. 
 
 [ 32 ] 
 
Marital Relations 
 
 Only a small number of the students attending college are mar¬ 
 ried. Of 462 students, 15 are married. Relatively, there are more 
 freshmen girls who are married than senior girls. It is quite 
 probable that this result is due to the fact that a great number of 
 the freshmen girls who are married will find it necessary to discon¬ 
 tinue their education before they reach the senior year. 
 
 A similar comparison between the boys of the two years shows 
 that a greater proportion of the senior boys is married than fresh¬ 
 men boys. A question apropos of the above is: Do men find it more 
 convenient to continue their education than women ? The question 
 cannot be answered from the facts obtained through this study, but 
 from the facts which have been presented it seems that an affirma¬ 
 tive answer is suggested. However, it may well be said that in 
 many cases men may not find it more convenient to attend school 
 
 after marriage, but they may find it more necessary. 
 
 
 FRESHMEN 
 
 "Yfalp K+nrlpnf a 
 
 Table 23 
 
 Married Students 
 
 Replies 
 . 212 
 
 Number 
 
 Married 
 
 5 
 
 Pomolo Sfnrlmifa 
 
 
 . 141 
 
 5 • 
 
 
 
 . 353 
 
 10 
 
 SENIORS 
 
 
 Replies 
 
 . 75 
 
 Number 
 
 Married 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 . 34 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 . 109 
 
 5 
 
 Comparisons of ages at which students expect to marry show 
 some variations. The average age at which a freshman boy expects 
 to marry is 27 years, and the average freshman girl expects to 
 marry at the age of 25 years. This means that the average fresh¬ 
 man student expects to be out of college 3 years before assuming 
 marital responsibilities. The average senior boy expects to marry 
 at 30 years of age. This shows that the desired age for marriage 
 for the senior boys is 3 years beyond the age desired by the fresh¬ 
 men boys, and also that the senior boys expect to be out of college 
 
 [ 33 ] 
 
6 years before marrying. It is perfectly natural for the average 
 age at which the senior male student expects to assume marital 
 responsibilities to be greater than the average age at which the 
 freshmen male students expect to assume similar obligations, be¬ 
 cause three years after graduation to the freshman seems a tre¬ 
 mendously long time, but to the senior, who has become more cogni¬ 
 zant of the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living, six 
 years seem§ only a short time. Many of the students may wish to 
 continue their studies beyond the four years of college; this desire 
 also would increase the deferment. 
 
 An interesting result derived from the replies of the female 
 students was that the average age at which the senior female stu¬ 
 dents wish to marry is one year less than the average age at which 
 the freshman female students wish to marry. Neither the freshmen 
 girls nor the senior girls wish to remain out of school over three 
 years before marrying. 
 
 Students in college are giving marital relations very serious 
 consideration and as they advance from the freshman year to the 
 senior year they are thinking relatively more upon these relations. 
 The pity of it all is, that they are not receiving much actual guid¬ 
 ance in their thoughts concerning these things while they are 
 thinking. 
 
 Fifteen per cent of the freshmen and 33 per cent of the seniors 
 have definitely decided upon the person they expect to marry. 
 Among the freshmen students investigated there is no difference 
 between the proportion of the boys who have made a definite de¬ 
 cision, and the proportion of the girls who have made a similar 
 decision, but among the seniors 15 per cent more of the girls have 
 made a definite decision as to the person than the boys. This may 
 be shown by the fact that 44 per cent of the senior girls have de¬ 
 cided upon their future mates, and only 29 per cent of the boys 
 have made a similar decision. 
 
 Economic Condition of Students 
 
 Sixty dollars is an estimated average amount which each Negro 
 student in the North Carolina colleges has to pay for tuition and 
 fees for a year. From this amount it may be estimated that all of 
 the college students in the seven colleges which were investigated 
 pay for fees and tuition an amount which approximates 70,000 
 
 [ 34 ] 
 
dollars, and that the amount paid yearly by the students investi¬ 
 gated approximates 28,000 dollars. The cost of board in the schools 
 is probably at its minimum, and it is very doubtful whether the cost 
 of a student’s food if he boards at home is much less than what he 
 would have to pay for it should he board at one of the institutions. 
 On the basis of this hypothesis it may be estimated that the amount 
 paid for board, fees, and tuition by all the college students in the 
 institutions investigated, approximates 230,000 dollars yearly. The 
 minimum cost for the students investigated would then approxi¬ 
 mate 93,800 dollars yearly. These students saved during the sum¬ 
 mer of 1927 a total of 42,117 dollars. From these results it can be 
 deduced that students do not save during the summer months even 
 one-half the amount necessary for their major expenses. When it 
 is considered that clothing, books, and other necessities must be paid 
 for during the year, it may be easily concluded that less than one- 
 half the amount necessary is saved by the students during the 
 summer months. 
 
 The thought may be advanced that not all of the students find 
 it necessary to defray their expenses. This is true, but from the 
 results presented in the following table it was found that 39 per 
 cent of the male students in the freshman class and 54 per cent of 
 the male students in the senior class are self supporting. Only 
 one per cent of the female students in the freshman class, and 8 per 
 cent of the female students in the senior class are self supporting. 
 
 t 
 
 Table 24 
 
 Self Supporting Students 
 
 Number Self Number Working Average Amount 
 
 FRESHMEN Supporting Last Summer Saved Per Student 
 
 Male Students . 84 84 $172.42 
 
 Female Students . 8 3 29.33 
 
 Total . 87 87 $166.48 
 
 SENIORS 
 
 Male Students . 
 Female Students 
 
 Table 25 
 
 Self Supporting Students 
 
 Number Self Number Working 
 
 Supporting 
 
 41 
 3 
 
 Last Summer 
 
 40 
 3 
 
 Average Amount 
 Saved Per Student 
 
 $178.75 
 
 165.00 
 
 44 
 
 43 
 
 $177.67 
 
 [ 35 ] 
 
 Total 
 
From the results obtained from self supporting students, and 
 students who are not self supporting it was found that students 
 who are self supporting saved more during their vacation period 
 than students who are not self supporting. The average self sup¬ 
 porting student among the male students in the freshman year 
 saved $166.48; the average male student in the same class who is 
 not self supporting saved only $99.65. The average senior student 
 who is self supporting saved $178.75, and the average senior stu¬ 
 dent who is not self supporting saved $123.22. It was found that 
 the average senior student saved $11.19 more than the average 
 freshman. It was found also that of 216 male students in the 
 freshman year, 216 worked during the previous summer, and that 
 of 75 senior men, 67 worked. 
 
 There are only 3 female students in the freshman year, and 3 in 
 the senior year who are self supporting. An average from such a 
 small group of students would not be sufficiently large for deduc¬ 
 tions. It may be said, however, that there is a preponderant num¬ 
 ber of self supporting boys over the number of self supporting 
 girls. This might mean either that the girls who must defray their 
 expenses do not find it possible to attend college in large numbers; 
 therefore the girls in college come from a family group which is 
 different economically from the group from which the boys come, 
 or it may mean that both the boys and the girls in college come 
 from the same family type, but that extra efforts are exerted on 
 the part of the parents to support the girl in school while the boy 
 is forced to support himself. 
 
 Table 26 
 
 Students Not Self Supporting 
 
 Worked Last Average Amount 
 FRESHMEN Replies Summer Saved Per Student 
 
 Male Students. 132 123 $ 99.65 
 
 Female Students . 141 57 59.12 
 
 SENIORS 
 
 Male Students . 34 27 123.22 
 
 Female Students. 28 14 74.64 
 
 Retardation 
 
 Poor health is the major cause of the retardation of the college 
 students in the Negro schools. The average time lost by 19 per cent 
 of the freshmen during the four years of high school was 2 years, 
 
 [ 36 ] 
 
and 5 months. Illness constituted 53 per cent of the reasons given 
 by the boys, and 80 per cent of the reasons given by the girls. 
 
 Twenty-seven students in the present freshman class were unable 
 to enter college immdiately after graduation from high school, 
 principally bcause of financial difficulties. The average time lost 
 by these students was one year, and 10 months. The average fresh¬ 
 man student who has been retarded has lost 2 years and 2 months 
 since the time he was graduated from the grammar school. If the 
 time lost by the retarded students in the freshman class is dis¬ 
 tributed over the entire class it can be said that the average fresh¬ 
 man has lost 7 months since he completed the work of the seventh 
 grade. 
 
 Twelve per cent of the seniors have lost time in college. The 
 average time lost by those who have been retarded was one year 
 and one month. If the total time lost by the seniors is distributed 
 over the entire class it may be said that the average senior student 
 has lost six months in school since the time he entered high school. 
 This may have a different interpretation: that two-thirds of the 
 senior students are one year behind their class mainly because of 
 illness and financial conditions. 
 
 Table 27 
 
 Time Lost in High School 
 
 FRESHMEN 
 
 Cases 
 
 Years 
 
 Lost 
 
 Financial 
 
 Reasons 
 
 Illness 
 
 Male Students . 
 
 . 43 
 
 113 
 
 10 
 
 23 
 
 Female Students .. . . 
 
 . 26 
 
 54 
 
 1 
 
 21 
 
 SENIORS 
 
 Male Students. 
 
 . 24 
 
 44 
 
 8 
 
 7 
 
 Female Students .... 
 
 . 2 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 SENIORS 
 
 Table 28 
 
 Time Lost in College 
 
 Cases 
 
 Years 
 
 Lost 
 
 Financial 
 
 Reasons 
 
 Illness 
 
 Male Students . 
 
 . 6 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Female Students ... . 
 
 . 8 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Interest in Work 
 
 It may be said, speaking generally, that the students are inter¬ 
 ested in the courses they are pursuing. This does not mean that 
 the students in the Negro colleges are receiving the proper voca- 
 
 [ 37 ] 
 
tional guidance, but it probably means that normal students, be¬ 
 cause of the absence of unusual native biases, would find interest 
 in the average subject offered in a college. It is quite probable 
 that a number of the students in college should be in other schools, 
 and that the colleges should diversify their programmes to meet 
 the inclinations of the students. 
 
 Among the freshmen 82 per cent of the female students, and 83 
 per cent of the male students are taking work in which they are 
 interested. Among the senior students, 64 per cent of the women, 
 and 80 per cent of the men are taking courses in which they are 
 interested. 
 
 Failures Expected 
 
 In order to find the students’ opinion of themselves and their 
 scholastic ability it was thought advisable to ask each student to 
 put down the number of courses which he expected to fail that 
 semester. The results are: The majority of the students in the 
 freshman class do not expect to fail during the year in any of their 
 courses they are taking. Of the 19 per cent of the freshman stu¬ 
 dents who expect failures, the average number of failures expected 
 is between one and two subjects. The per cent of the young women 
 in the freshman class who expect failures is one per cent, greater 
 than the per cent of the young men in the same class who expect 
 failures. 
 
 Table 29 
 
 Failures Expected 
 
 Number of Failures 
 
 FRESHMEN Gases Expected 
 
 Male Students. 41 69 
 
 Female Students . 29 42 
 
 Total . 70 111 
 
 Occupations Desired by Students 
 
 Although the ambitions of the freshmen students are distrib¬ 
 uted over a range of 25 different occupations the unevenness of the 
 distribution, and the absence in the distribution of some very im¬ 
 portant occupations indicate that the students have received very 
 little vocational guidance. The occupation which was most fre¬ 
 quently selected was that of teaching. Among the freshmen 72 per 
 cent of the female students and 22 per cent of the male students 
 
 [ 38 ] 
 
wish to teach. It was very surprising to note that 7 per cent of the 
 freshman students wish to enter the ministry although it is very 
 satisfying to know that even that per cent of the college students are 
 inclined towards the ministry. The following table reveals the occu¬ 
 pations desired by the freshmen. The table begins with the occupa¬ 
 tions most frequently chosen and the other occupations are arranged 
 relatively. 
 
 Table 30 
 
 Occupations Desired By Freshmen 
 
 Occupations Desired 
 
 Teaching . 
 
 Medicine . 
 
 Business . 
 
 Ministry. 
 
 Dentistry . 
 
 Pharmacy . 
 
 Music . 
 
 Architecture .. 
 
 Social Work . 
 
 Others below 6* 
 
 Total. 
 
 Frequency of Selection 
 . 147 
 
 . 49 
 
 . 23 
 
 . 15 
 
 . 14 
 
 . 12 
 
 . 11 
 
 . 6 
 
 . 6 
 
 343 
 
 Among the seniors the desired occupations arranged according 
 to the frequency of selection assume an order which differs slightly 
 from the arrangement of the occupations of the freshmen. The de¬ 
 scending arrangement of the occupations by the freshmen was: 
 Teaching, Practice of Medicine, Business, Ministry, Dentistry. 
 Among the seniors the arrangement is: Teaching, Business, Prac¬ 
 tice of Medicine, Ministry. Prom these arrangements it may be 
 clearly seen that teaching is most important to each group, and that 
 to the seniors business is more important than medicine. The 
 ministry has the fourth place in each group. 
 
 There are also variations between the proportions of the fresh¬ 
 men who have chosen certain occupations and the proportions of 
 the seniors who have chosen corresponding occupations. The desire 
 to teach is not as great among the seniors as it is among the fresh¬ 
 men. The occupation of the practice of medicine is more frequently 
 desired among the freshmen than among the seniors. A greater 
 proportion of the senior students wish to enter the ministry than 
 freshmen. 
 
 * See Table number 45. 
 
 [ 39 ] 
 
Table 31 presents the distribution of the desired occupations 
 among the seniors. 
 
 Table 31 
 
 Desired Occupations By Seniors 
 
 Desired Occupations Frequency of Selection 
 
 Teaching . 47 
 
 Business. 14 
 
 Practice of Medicine. 12 
 
 Ministry. 11 
 
 Dentistry. 8 
 
 Total. 109 
 
 The fact, which is easily observed from the preceding tables, 
 that such a small proportion of the students wish to enter the arts 
 shows very clearly that there has not been a wide-spread conscious¬ 
 ness of the importance of literature, music, painting, and sculpture 
 in the cultural development of the Negro race. It is thought by 
 many, and they are persons whose opinions are important, that the 
 most distinct contribution which the Negro can possibly make to 
 American and to world culture must be made largely in the arts, 
 because the excellence of an artistic contribution is not measured 
 by standards which are tentative and wholly dependent upon the 
 time in which a contributor lives, but artistic creations are meas¬ 
 ured by their capacity to express the emotions, the struggles, the 
 hopes, and the joys of the human race. Fundamentally these do 
 not change. This is not true of economic contributions, because 
 they are determined by the economic status of the locality or 
 country. Present economic contributions, though worthy of com¬ 
 mendation, will probably be negligible when compared with the 
 economic contributions which will be made during the latter part 
 of this century. The very fact that there was not one senior student 
 who expressed a desire to write shows how commercialism has pre- 
 meated the lives of the people. Unbiased educators, therefore, 
 should interest themselves more in the occupations selected by stu¬ 
 dents in order to develop a well rounded race as well as well 
 rounded students. 
 
 Occupations of Persons Who Have Influenced the Students 
 Each student was asked to give the name and the occupation of 
 the person who had exerted the greatest influence on his life. An 
 
 * See Table number 45 for other occupations. 
 
 [40] 
 
outstanding result of this question was, that the persons named, in 
 a majority of the cases, were not persons of the greatest prominence 
 in the state. The results showed very clearly that teachers, minis¬ 
 ters, doctors, business men, hair dressers, and persons engaged in 
 practically every occupation common to the Negroes in this state 
 are those to whom the students are looking for inspiration and 
 guidance. It was found that persons representing 22 different oc¬ 
 cupations have had the greatest influence over the freshmen. Of 
 all the freshmen students, teachers have had the greatest influence 
 as 31 per cent of the freshmen claimed to have been influenced by 
 teachers. 
 
 The number of different occupations of the persons exerting the 
 greatest influence on the freshman girls is less than the number of 
 different occupations of the persons who have influenced the fresh¬ 
 men boys. There were 12 different occupations represented by the 
 persons who have influenced the girls, and 20 different occupations 
 represented by the persons who have influenced the boys. 
 
 Table 32 presents a relative arrangement of a few of the occupa¬ 
 tions of the persons who have had the greatest influence on the 
 freshmen. 
 
 Table 32 
 
 Occupations of Persons Who Have Influenced Students 
 
 Occupation 
 
 Teaching . 
 
 Preaching . 
 
 Practicing Medicine 
 
 Business . 
 
 Others below* .... 
 
 FR'ESHMEN 
 
 Number of Freshmen Students 
 
 Male 
 
 Female 
 
 61 
 
 47 
 
 15 
 
 20 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 Influenced 
 
 Total 
 
 106 
 
 35 
 
 13 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 Total 
 
 214 129 343 
 
 t 
 
 From the following table which gives the distribution of the 
 occupations of the persons who have exerted the greatest influence 
 over the seniors it may be seen that the relative arrangement of 
 these occupations is different from the freshmen arrangement. The 
 relative arrangement of the classes of persons influencing the fresh¬ 
 men was: Teachers, Ministers, Doctors, Business Men, etc. The 
 arrangement of the occupations influencing the seniors is: Teach- 
 
 * See Table number 46. 
 
 [ 41 ] 
 
ing, Ministry, Business, Practice of Medicine, etc. The difference 
 is, that the doctor’s position in the freshman scale is replaced by 
 the business man’s place in the senior scale. This change corre¬ 
 sponds to the essential difference between the arrangement of the 
 occupations desired by the freshmen, and the arrangement of the 
 occupations desired by the seniors. 
 
 Influential persons, to a great extent, determine the occupations 
 which are desired by students. It is not always true, however, 
 that a person will influence a child to select his occupation, but 
 rather there are many persons who seemingly take some cognizance 
 of the child’s talents. Among the freshmen only 27 male students 
 of 214, and only 40 female students of 129 have selected occupa¬ 
 tions similar to those of the persons influencing them. Among the 
 seniors 22 of 27 occupations selected by male students were occu¬ 
 pations similar to the occupations of the persons who have had the 
 greatest influence over them. It was also found that more students 
 desire to teach than were influenced by teachers, and that more 
 students were influenced by ministers than there are students who 
 desire to enter the ministry. 
 
 Table 33 
 
 Occupations of Influential Persons 
 SENIORS 
 
 Occupation 
 
 
 
 
 
 Number of Senior Students Influenced 
 
 
 Male 
 
 Female 
 
 Total 
 
 Teaching . 
 
 . 25 
 
 6 
 
 31 
 
 Preaching . 
 
 
 7 
 
 21 
 
 Business. 
 
 . 3 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 Practice of Medicine . 
 
 . 3 
 
 0 
 
 3 
 
 Others below*. 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Total... 75 34 109 
 
 Reasons for Going to College 
 
 The students were asked to state the reasons why they were 
 going to college. Fourteen different reasons were given by the 
 freshmen, and only four reasons were given by the seniors. The 
 reasons given by the freshmen, and the seniors arranged relatively 
 in the order of the frequency of replies show, with exceptions of 
 variations in place value, that the reasons which occupy the first 
 
 * See Table number 46. 
 
 [ 42 ] 
 
four places in the senior arrangement are the same as those which 
 occupy the first four places in the freshman arrangement. The 
 relative arrangement of the senior reasons is: To prepare for life, 
 to learn to serve, to acquire culture, and to acquire knowledge. 
 Among the freshmen the arrangement is: To prepare for life, to 
 acquire culture, to acquire knowledge, and to prepare to serve. 
 The seniors gave no other reasons than the four which are men¬ 
 tioned above, but the freshmen gave 10 other reasons which are of 
 little consequence, because the frequency with which they were 
 chosen was negligible when compared with the frequency with 
 which the four major were chosen. 
 
 Even though separate arrangements for the male and female 
 students agree almost wholly with the general scale, the different 
 sexes did not reply to each question in the same proportions. To 
 illustrate, among the seniors a greater per cent of the men than 
 women, gave preparation as a reason for going to college; a greater 
 per cent of the men than women gave service as a reason; and a 
 greater per cent of the women than men gave culture as a reason. 
 
 Tables 34 and 35 present relatively distributions of the reasons 
 given by the seniors, and the four most important reasons given by 
 the freshmen. 
 
 Table 34 
 
 To prepare for life 
 
 For culture. 
 
 For knowledge 
 To learn to serve . 
 Others below .... 
 
 Total .. 
 
 Reasons for Going to College 
 
 FRESHMEN 
 
 Male 
 
 Replies 
 
 Female 
 
 Total 
 
 87 
 
 61 
 
 148 
 
 27 
 
 25 
 
 52 
 
 36 
 
 12 
 
 48 
 
 29 
 
 17 
 
 46 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 193 
 
 123 
 
 316 
 
 
 Table 35 
 
 Reasons for Going to College 
 
 SENIORS 
 
 Male 
 
 . 39 
 
 Replies 
 
 Female 
 
 16 
 
 Total 
 
 55 
 
 
 
 . . 18 
 
 6 
 
 26 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . . 70 
 
 30 
 
 100 
 
 [ 43 ] 
 
Closely connected with the reasons for going to college are the 
 reasons why particular colleges are selected. First in importance 
 among the reasons given by the students for selecting particular 
 colleges was the proximity of the institution; the reason of second 
 importance to proximity, and which is related to proximity, was 
 financial condition. 
 
 In view of the fact that most of the colleges in the state are 
 denominational schools, a cursory conclusion would be that students 
 have selected various schools for denominational reasons. The re¬ 
 sults of the investigation, however, do not point to any such convic¬ 
 tion. Among the freshman students it was found that 38 per cent 
 of the men and only 24 per cent of the women are members of the 
 denomination which supports the school. Among the seniors a 
 similar comparison showed that the percentages are 22 per cent 
 for the men and 32 for the women. From these results it may be 
 concluded that church interest is not an important factor in deter¬ 
 mining the selection of particular schools, for these percentages are 
 less than the percentages of the students who are distributed among 
 the various denominations throughout the state. 
 
 [ 44 ] 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 OPINIONS OF STUDENTS 
 Religious Interest 
 
 Are college students interested in religion? Before the facts 
 relative to the religious interest of the students in the North Caro¬ 
 lina colleges are presented, a background of thought will be intro¬ 
 duced solely for the purpose of orientation. There is an opinion, 
 particularly common to laymen, that there is a conflict between 
 scholastic and religious interests. There is another opinion, which 
 is more generally conceded, that the college students are drifting 
 away from the church. Much of this is true, according to various 
 conferences and reports, but no conference of any importance has 
 concluded that the college students are non-religious any more than 
 any conference has concluded that man is non-religious. Students 
 are expressing by words and actions their oppositions to religious 
 dogma. The various doctrinal and ecclesiastical aspects of the 
 church do not possess fundamental interests for them. Briefly, it 
 may be said that students are religious, but they are not theological. 
 Dean Hawkes, of Columbia College, said in a recent conference that 
 students are inquiring about religion with greater intellect. If this 
 is true the conflict is obvious, for if a man begins to think postula- 
 tionally on dogma of any sort there will naturally arise, during the 
 course of his reasoning, certain elements which if incorporated will 
 destroy the cogency of his thought; therefore these incongruous 
 elements must be rejected. To reject any portion of a body of 
 dogmatic faith among people whose beliefs have not kept pace with 
 the intellectual advancement of the race is to reject the faith in its 
 entirety. So much for the spirit of the times. Let us go on. 
 
 The students in the various colleges were asked if religious 
 services interest them. The students, with exception of a very few, 
 are interested in religious services. Of 360 freshmen students re¬ 
 plying to the question of religious interest, 350 replied that they 
 are interested. The per cent of the freshmen girls who are inter¬ 
 ested in religious services is 2 per cent greater than the per cent 
 of the freshman boys who are interested. Ninety-seven per cent 
 
 [ 45 ] 
 
of the students in the freshman class are interested in religious 
 services. A comparison of the per cent of the freshmen who are 
 interested in religious services with the per cent of the seniors who 
 are similarly interested showed that 6 per cent more of the fresh¬ 
 men are interested than seniors. 
 
 The students are not only interested in religious services, but 
 they belong to the church in large proportions. It was found that 
 94 per cent of the freshmen and 96 per cent of the seniors are 
 members of some church. It is doubtless true that the most potent 
 factor contributing to the high percentages of the students who 
 are interested in religious services, and who are church members is 
 the religious interests of the parents. It was found that 96 per cent 
 of the parents of the freshmen and 91 per cent of the parents of 
 the seniors attend church regularly. 
 
 To be a member of a church does not preclude a belief that re¬ 
 ligion is not essential. The students were asked if they felt that 
 religion is absolutely necessary in their lives. Ninety-seven per 
 cent of the freshmen and 88 per cent of the seniors answered in the 
 affirmative. The female students feel the necessity more than the 
 male students. It was interesting to note that a greater proportion 
 of the freshman boys feel that religion is necessary than senior 
 boys, but a greater proportion of the senior girls think that religion 
 is necessary than freshman girls. 
 
 The students were asked if they are members of religious or¬ 
 ganizations such as the Y. M. C. A. and the Y. W. C. A. It was 
 found that the seniors are members in larger proportions than the 
 freshmen. Fifty-eight per cent of the freshmen and 63 per cent of 
 the seniors are members of the Y. M. C. A., and the Y. W. C. A. 
 
 Table 36 
 
 Religious Interest 
 
 Members of Parents Members 
 
 FRESHMEN Cases Interested Church Attend Necessary of Y 
 
 Male . 216 209 196 206 208 118 
 
 Female . 144 141 143 141 142 93 
 
 Total.(360) (350) (339) (347) (350) (211) 
 
 SENIORS 
 
 Male . 75 68 71 67 62 49 
 
 Female . 34 32 34 33 34 20 
 
 Total.(109) (100) (105) (100) (96) (69) 
 
 [46] 
 
le following tables present the distribution of the students 
 according to their church affiliations. From the tables it may be 
 c early seen that more of the freshmen are members of the Baptist 
 church than are members of any other church. Among the seniors, 
 however, this is true for the female students, but it is not true for 
 the male students. It was found that a larger proportion of the 
 girls are members of the Baptist church than the boys. 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 Baptist . 
 
 Methodist 
 Presbyterian . 
 
 Christian. 
 
 Congregational 
 
 Episcopal 
 
 Catholic . 
 
 Holiness . 
 
 Table 37 
 
 Church Affiliations 
 FRESHMEN 
 
 Male 
 
 Female 
 
 Total 
 
 75 
 
 70 
 
 145 
 
 72 
 
 55 
 
 127 
 
 33 
 
 3 
 
 36 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 0 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 2 
 
 Total 
 
 191 135 
 
 326 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 Baptist . 
 
 Methodist 
 Presbyterian . 
 Episcopal 
 Congregational 
 Christian . .,. 
 Holiness . 
 
 Table 38 
 
 Church Affiliations 
 SENIORS 
 
 Male 
 
 20 
 
 26 
 
 22 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 Female 
 
 19 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Total 
 
 39 
 
 35 
 
 24 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Total 
 
 71 34 105 
 
 Moral Standards 
 
 Much has been said and written recently about the changing 
 moral standard for women. Very little has been said about changes 
 in the moral standard for men, because the standard for men has 
 remained practically unaltered for generations. A moral standard 
 is such an elusive thing and has so many variable quantities con¬ 
 nected with it that it is extremely difficult to determine its total 
 •significance. However, in order to get the students’ opinions on 
 
 [ 47 ] 
 
morals they were asked if they thought that the women should have 
 the same moral standard now accepted for men. Great care was 
 taken to see that the students did not confuse the three ideas: first, 
 that men and women should have the same moral standard. (This 
 condition may involve an arbitrary standard which is neither the 
 present standard for the men nor the women) ; second, that men 
 and women should have the standard of the women; and third, that 
 women should adopt the standard now accepted for men. 
 
 Of 300 freshman replies, 175 indicated that the women should 
 adopt the men’s standard. Seventy-three per cent of the freshman 
 female students think that the women should adopt the standard 
 of the men, and only 47 per cent of the freshman male students 
 believe in the adoption. The per cent of the students who believe 
 that the women should adopt the standard of the men increases 
 from 55 per cent for the freshman students to 78 per cent for the 
 seniors. This increase might be due to what may be termed—the 
 liberality of students. 
 
 While these results may seem alarming they are neither indi¬ 
 cative of any indiscretion on the part of the female students nor 
 the prelude to a revolt against the established moral order. It must 
 be considered that physical manifestation is not the inevitable 
 consequence of a reactionary opinion on morals. The fact that such 
 a large proportion of the female students believe that women should 
 have the same standards as men now have may only indicate that 
 the thoughtful women in college to-day realize that double stand¬ 
 ards are incongruous with the modern idea of equal intellectual 
 and social opportunities of the sexes. They are beginning to feel 
 that they have a right to be either as good or as bad as the men, and 
 they have. 
 
 Table 39 
 
 Moral Standards 
 
 Women’s Standard 
 the Same as 
 
 FRESHMEN Replies Men Now Have 
 
 Male . 184 90 
 
 Female . 116 85 
 
 Total.(300) (175) 
 
 SENIORS 
 
 Male . 69 52 
 
 Female . 29 25 
 
 Total.(98) (77) 
 
 [ 48 ] 
 
Social Equality 
 
 Social equality is somewhat similar to evolution in that the 
 people who are excited most by the mere suggestion of the idea 
 know least about it. What is social equality ? To answer this ques¬ 
 tion it would be necessary to define equality. What then is equal¬ 
 ity? When is one race of people equal to another? If a layman 
 should be asked what is really meant by social equality he would 
 refer in all probability either to some hackneyed theory about eat¬ 
 ing together or to an equally as trite belief about inter-marriage. 
 It is indeed strange, and lamentable that the gullible multitude will 
 absorb a phase of a question with the belief that it embraces the 
 total significance of the issue. On the other hand, if men of 
 acumen are asked the meaning of social equality they will also 
 differ in their views. This fact was revealed in a recent discussion 
 between Lathrop M. Stoddard and Alain Locke. Mr. Locke does 
 not believe that there should be such a difference between the char¬ 
 acter of a man’s cultural contribution and the man to the extent 
 that his contribution can be accepted and the man rejected. Mr. 
 Stoddard believes that it is not necessary to accept the race in order 
 to accept its cultural contributions. After all, who knows what is 
 to be selected and what is to be rejected? Who knows where the 
 tenuous line is which divides the man’s contribution and the man? 
 Where does the creation begin and the man end? 
 
 The students who were investigated do not concur in their un¬ 
 derstanding of the meaning of social equality. To a number of 
 students the term has no meaning. It was found, to the greater per 
 cent of the students, that social equality means: Equal rights and 
 opportunities in all walks of life. The term Social Equality, there¬ 
 fore, is one of these vague and ofttimes meaningless terms like De¬ 
 mocracy. It is vague because each person approaches it with a 
 preconceived bias in his own mind; consequently the definition of 
 the term is colored by this personal bias. Yet it is a very important 
 term, and because of its importance each student was asked to give 
 his interpretation of the term. No explanation of definition or hint, 
 of any sort was given by the examiner. The results show that the 
 term is practically as meaningless, technically, to the students as 
 to the rest of the populace. 
 
 The following table shows very clearly that the opinions are 
 distributed over a wide range. 
 
 [ 49 ] 
 
Table 40 
 
 Meaning of Social Equality 
 
 
 Freshmen 
 
 
 Seniors 
 
 Grand 
 
 MEANING 
 
 M 
 
 F 
 
 T 
 
 M 
 
 F 
 
 T 
 
 Total 
 
 Total equality. All are born equal. 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 (11) 
 
 
 
 
 (11) 
 
 Equal rights and opportunities in all 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 walks of life, without segregation. .. 
 
 71 
 
 46 
 
 (117) 
 
 36 
 
 20 
 
 (56) 
 
 (173) 
 
 Economic equality . 
 
 1 
 
 
 (1) 
 
 
 1 
 
 (1) 
 
 (2) 
 
 Equal Standards—Moral and Social. . . 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 (6) 
 
 
 
 
 (6) 
 
 No legal restrictions and no social re- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 strictions concerning mixing of races 
 
 15 
 
 14 
 
 (29) 
 
 5 
 
 ft 
 
 (8) 
 
 (37) 
 
 Equal political and civil rights. 
 
 18 
 
 6 
 
 (24) 
 
 5 
 
 
 (5) 
 
 (29) 
 
 Freedom of action and thought. 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 (4) 
 
 
 
 
 (4) 
 
 Harmonious living on equal basis. 
 
 
 4 
 
 (4) 
 
 
 
 
 (4) 
 
 Higher moral and social standards. 
 
 9 
 
 
 (9) 
 
 
 
 
 (9) 
 
 No meaning . 
 
 16 
 
 8 
 
 (24) 
 
 10 
 
 
 (10) 
 
 (34) 
 
 Self improvement . 
 
 1 
 
 
 (1) 
 
 1 
 
 
 (1) 
 
 (2) 
 
 Greater interest in Negro. 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 (7) 
 
 
 
 
 (7) 
 
 Knowledge . 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 (1) 
 
 (1) 
 
 Slight meaning. 
 
 4 
 
 
 (4) 
 
 
 
 
 (4) 
 
 Social development . 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 (3) 
 
 
 
 
 (3) 
 
 Social equality . 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 (8) 
 
 
 
 
 (8) 
 
 Others . 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 (4) 
 
 
 
 
 (4) 
 
 Respect for rights of others. 
 
 
 1 
 
 (1) 
 
 
 
 
 (1) 
 
 Equal according to achievement . 
 
 2 
 
 
 (2) 
 
 
 
 
 (2) 
 
 Service . 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 (1) 
 
 (1) 
 
 
 161 
 
 98 
 
 (259) 
 
 59 
 
 24 
 
 (83) 
 
 (342) 
 
 Opinions of Disciplinary Rules 
 
 Supervision of behavior of students is the least standardized of 
 all elements which are supposed to be necessary for the best develop¬ 
 ment of the youth. At the present time the supervisory attention 
 which is given the conduct of students before and after school hours 
 is determined largely by the degree of conventionality of the admin¬ 
 istration, which in turn is shaped perceptibly by either the pro¬ 
 vincialism or the liberality of the board of directors and of the 
 community in which the institution is located. Because of this 
 heterogeneity of opinions concerning academic responsibility for 
 students’ conduct, there has developed among students a rather 
 wide-spread dislike for disciplinary rules. In order to counteract 
 this feeling on the part of the students and to maintain certain con¬ 
 formities to the old regime, many institutions have inaugurated stu¬ 
 dent councils which in a few cases have been successful, but in most 
 
 [ 50 ] 
 
cases have not been satisfactory. One significant reason why the 
 plan has not been a success at some institutions is that the new plan 
 presented too many points of transition from the old. The student 
 council, in the opinion of the administration, would dispose of cer¬ 
 tain infringements too lightly; therefore the plan was not a success. 
 There are many pertinent questions which might be asked concerning 
 discipline, but most of these questions are either closely related or 
 they are component parts of the question: How much jurisdiction 
 should a college have over students’ conduct? 
 
 In order to determine in a rather general way the attitude of the 
 students toward disciplinary rules in the Negro colleges in this state, 
 each student investigated was given the opportunity to state: 1. 
 Whether he thought the present rules in his college were necessary; 
 
 2. Whether he thought the present rules in his college were too loose; 
 
 3. Whether he thought the rules in his college improperly adminis¬ 
 tered ; and, 4. Each student was left a blank line upon which to state 
 any other objection to the rules that he had. It was found that 57 
 per cent of the freshmen, and 38 per cent of the seniors think that 
 the present rules are necessary; six per cent of the freshmen and 6 
 per cent of the seniors think that the rules are too loose; and 28 per 
 cent of the freshmen and 48 per cent of the seniors believe that the 
 rules are improperly administered. 
 
 The opinion of the men, and those of the women were by no means 
 equal. Among the freshmen 20 per cent more of the women than 
 the men think that the rules are necessary. Among the seniors this 
 condition is reversed in that 32 per cent more men than women believe 
 that the present rules are necessary. It is not difficult to explain 
 such a radical difference between the opinions of the sexes because 
 the restrictions governing behavior which are imposed upon male 
 students decrease from the maximum number in the freshman year 
 to a limited number in the senior year which are hardly more than 
 those imposed upon a gentleman in life. The decrease in the re¬ 
 strictions upon the young women from the freshman year to the 
 senior year is very small when compared with the decrease in the 
 restrictions upon the young men. The conflict is obvious, because 
 the students of different sexes have the same academic restrictions; 
 they have similar ideas and beliefs; therefore there would naturally 
 
 arise questions of discrimination. 
 
 Of improper administration of rules, 14 per cent more men than 
 women in the freshman class believe that the rules are improperly 
 
 [ 51 ] 
 
administered; among the seniors 23 per cent more women than men, 
 believe that the rules are improperly administered. It is very sig¬ 
 nificant that the freshmen and the seniors in the colleges in this state 
 are neither impressed with the necessity for, nor with the adminis¬ 
 tration of the disciplinary rules. 
 
 Table 41 
 
 Opinions of Disciplinary Rules 
 
 Improperly 
 
 FRESHMEN 
 
 
 Replies 
 
 Necessary 
 
 Loose 
 
 Administered 
 
 Men .. 
 
 
 . 165 
 
 82 
 
 15 
 
 51 
 
 Women . 
 
 
 . 114 
 
 79 
 
 2 
 
 29 
 
 Total ... 
 
 
 . (279) 
 
 (161) 
 
 (17) 
 
 (80) 
 
 SENIORS 
 
 Men . 
 
 
 . 62 
 
 28 
 
 5 
 
 26 
 
 Women . 
 
 
 . 30 
 
 7 
 
 0 
 
 19 
 
 Total . . . 
 
 
 . (92) 
 
 (35) 
 
 (5) 
 
 (45) 
 
 Opinions of Teachers 
 
 “What is becoming to a teacher?” 
 
 It has been well said that school-boards, administrators, and peo¬ 
 ple generally are attempting to make teachers into sexless beings. 
 School principals and presidents are blamed generally for the re¬ 
 strictions which are imposed upon teachers; while administrators 
 are by no means guiltless, it is true in a number of cases that these 
 men dare not go contrary to either the political or the religious 
 prejudices of those who are keeping them in their jobs. There are 
 those, however, who have planned a campaign against teachers bob¬ 
 bing their hair, dancing, smoking, etc., with the preciseness with 
 which a general would plan a seige upon a city. The sad fact of it 
 all is that while all this noise is going on about the morals of the 
 teacher, that children every day are being poorly taught or not 
 taught at all, and very little is said and done about it. While this 
 tyranny is peculiarly applicable to grammar and high school teach¬ 
 ers, college teachers are not free from its effect. 
 
 Although restrictive measures for teachers are very general over 
 the country, Negro teachers especially have been subjected to very 
 rigorous rules of conduct. One significant factor which has con¬ 
 tributed largely to the standard for Negro teachers has been the 
 standard which has been set by the Puritan group of white people 
 
 [ 52 ] 
 
that began the higher education of the Negro in the South. With 
 due appreciation for their efforts and sacrifices one must admit that 
 they have been largely of a group which has had to sever practically 
 all social connections with its own people. The Southern whites 
 objected to social contact with these Puritans because of their rela¬ 
 tions with Negroes, and for these people social intercourse with 
 Negroes off the school grounds was generally dangerous, because of 
 southern prejudice. Then too, the missionary spirit of the people 
 which precipitated their choice of work rather set them apart from 
 the world. This puritanical aloofness and restraint has been left 
 somewhat as a moral heritage to our group. But this standard has 
 become irksome and the young Negro is rebelling against it. Among 
 the Negroes there is a growing group of enthusiastic young men and 
 women who teach because they would rather teach than do anything 
 else. They are thoroughly alive; they are interested in social 
 affairs ; they love their work, and when their work is done they want 
 amusement like other normal human beings. In spite of these facts 
 the people persist in their adherence to moth eaten theories about 
 a teacher’s behavior which have caused in many cases the crushing 
 of persons who were full of life into dull sexless beings, and in 
 other cases have caused many spirited persons to flee from this 
 bondage into a normal life. 
 
 Judgment of a teacher’s behavior is therefore peculiar to the 
 group, and generally it is not measured by standards which are ap¬ 
 plied to other people. Student approval or disapproval of teachers’ 
 conduct is merely an expression of the reaction of the townspeople 
 towards the type of conduct under surveillance, for students are 
 steeped in the local tradition of what is “becoming to a teacher.” 
 So much for the background. Let us see what the students think. 
 
 The students were asked if they thought their male and female 
 teachers were good examples of manhood and womanhood. Gener¬ 
 ally speaking it may be said that the freshmen think that their teach¬ 
 ers both male and female are good examples. Among the male 
 students of the freshman year there is no variation between the 
 opinion of the male teacher and the female teacher, for 87 per cent 
 of the freshmen boys replying believe that the male and female teach¬ 
 ers are good examples of womanhood and manhood. In the opinion 
 of the girls 5 per cent more of the female teachers than the male 
 
 teachers are good examples. 
 
 [ 53 ] 
 
The senior opinions vary considerably. Of all the male students 
 replying 25 per cent think that the male teachers are poor examples, 
 and 15 per cent of the female teachers are poor examples. The senior 
 girls think less of their teachers than the senior boys. 
 
 Of the senior girls 60 per cent of the senior girls replying believe 
 that their male teachers are poor examples, and that thirty per cent 
 of their female teachers are poor examples. It may be concluded 
 that the Negro students in the colleges have a higher moral opinion 
 of their female teachers than they have of their male teachers, and 
 that the girls have a better opinion of their teachers than the boys. 
 
 Table 42 
 
 Opinion of Teachers 
 
 FRESHMEN MEN 
 
 Male Teachers. 
 
 Replies 
 
 . 211 
 
 Good 
 
 Examples 
 
 183 
 
 Poor 
 
 Examples 
 
 28 
 
 Female Teachers. 
 
 . 87 
 
 65 
 
 12 
 
 FRESHMEN WOMEN 
 
 Male Teachers. 
 
 . 104 
 
 89 
 
 15 
 
 Female Teachers . 
 
 . 127 
 
 115 
 
 12 
 
 SENIOR- MEN 
 
 Male Teachers . 
 
 . 75 
 
 56 
 
 19 
 
 Female Teachers. 
 
 . 31 
 
 17 
 
 14 
 
 SENIOR WOMEN 
 
 Male Teachers . 
 
 . 23 
 
 9 
 
 14 
 
 Female Teachers. 
 
 . 30 
 
 21 
 
 9 
 
 [ 54 ] 
 
CHAPTER YI 
 
 FORECASTING 
 
 There are many persons who think that there are too many people 
 going to college. This opinion is not common only to those who do 
 not see the value of higher education, but it is held also by many 
 persons who appreciate the significance of college training. It is 
 generally maintained, particularly by those who place the proper 
 value on higher education, that there are too many persons in college, 
 because there are not jobs enough, of the type desired by college 
 graduates, to be distributed among the rapidly increasing number 
 of college graduates. Education for utility is unquestionably a good 
 motive, but the lack of utilitarian opportunities is no justification 
 for keeping people ignorant of this higher life. In this section of 
 the study an attempt will be made to determine the relation between 
 the supply of college graduates and the probable demand for their 
 services after graduation. 
 
 Teachers 
 
 The increase in the high school enrollment during the past five 
 years has been phenomenal. There are at the present time 12,500 
 students in the Negro high schools in the state. 
 
 For the last five years the Negro high school enrollment has shown 
 an average annual increase of 1,800 each year. On the basis of the 
 number of high school teachers now employed, the number of stu¬ 
 dents now attending, and the probable increase it is safe to forecast 
 that ninety additional Negro high school teachers will be needed in 
 September if the same ratio between the number of teachers and the 
 number of students that now prevails is to be maintained. The sur¬ 
 vey showed that only forty-seven seniors who are expecting to gradu¬ 
 ate in June from the colleges in this state expect to teach. Forecasting 
 on the basis of the probable number of freshmen who will graduate 
 in four years, it may be concluded that only seventy-three students 
 will be trained to teach in the high schools. 
 
 There are other factors which may decrease the probable number 
 of teachers who will serve as instructors in high schools. Two of 
 these factors will be mentioned. Some of the college graduates will 
 
 [ 55 ] 
 
find work in the grammar grades. Another factor which will affect 
 our estimate of the number of high school teachers is the probability 
 that some of the present seniors who wish to teach may continue their 
 studies in order to prepare themselves to be teachers in colleges. 
 There are other variations which we might mention, and each one 
 would only strengthen our conclusion. 
 
 Therefore, on the basis of the above results, and in view of the 
 fact that the ratio between the number of Negro high school teachers 
 who have received their training outside the state, and the number 
 of teachers who have received their training in North Carolina col¬ 
 leges is 4 to 1, it is safe to conclude that the number of students in 
 the Negro colleges in North Carolina who desire to teach is decidedly 
 too small. 
 
 Doctors: There are 150,000 medical doctors in the United States. 
 If this number is compared with the total population of this country 
 it will be seen that there is one medical doctor to every group of 704 
 inhabitants. There are in the state of North Carolina approximately 
 150 Negro medical doctors. By comparing the number of Negro 
 medical doctors in the state with the total Negro population, which 
 approximates 800,000, it will be found that there is one Negro medi¬ 
 cal doctor to every group of 5,333 Negroes. A safe ratio between the 
 number of doctors and the population is 1 doctor to 1,000 people. 
 One the basis of this hypothesis it may be concluded that 800 Negro 
 medical doctors are necessary in this state if the Negro is to ade¬ 
 quately serve his own people in this profession. It remains, there¬ 
 fore, that the number of medical doctors is considerably less than 
 the satisfactory number. 
 
 Approximately six students among the present senior students 
 who were investigated will complete their medical course in four 
 years, and in eight years it is safe to estimate that twelve students 
 among those in the present freshman class will begin the practice of 
 medicine. On the basis of the number of students who wish to be¬ 
 come medical doctors, the increase in the school attendance, and the 
 increase in population it may be reasonably estimated that twenty 
 years will elapse before there will be in this state among Negroes a 
 ratio of one doctor to 1,000 people. It is to be noted that this con¬ 
 clusion is valid only upon the condition that the number of students 
 in college doubles every four years. This may happen for the next 
 
 [ 56 ] 
 
twenty years, and it may not. In either case, however, it is true that 
 there is no danger of the Negro over-crowding the medical profession. 
 
 Dentists: The facts concerning the dentists are more striking 
 than those concerning medical doctors. In order to have a satisfac¬ 
 tory ratio between the number of dentists and the population the 
 present number of Negro dentists in North Carolina (50) must be 
 increased by 270. From the number of students who wish to become 
 dentists it was estimated that it will take thirty years for the North 
 Carolina colleges to supply enough students who desire to take den¬ 
 tistry to secure a satisfactory proportion. 
 
 Ministry: If there is any occupation among those common to 
 Negroes which should demand a college education it is the ministry. 
 During all the civilized times the church has maintained a position 
 of leadership among the people. This high position has been main¬ 
 tained principally because the churchmen were men of great learning 
 and culture. The people have looked to them for advice and guid¬ 
 ance. The Negro preachers in the past were not men of letters, but 
 they knew decidedly more than the people to whom they preached. 
 Therefore, they could lead. The church must not only keep pace 
 with the intellectual development of the people, but it must in a way 
 lead in this development. A slight tendency to decline not only 
 affects the immediate status of the institution, but this decline cor¬ 
 respondingly decreases the interest of intellectual young people in 
 the institution. This decrease in interest accelerates the decline 
 of the institution in the future. This fact is shown by the variations 
 in the proportions of the students who wish to enter the ministry. 
 
 In four years there will probably be seven students graduating 
 from college in North Carolina who wish to enter the ministry. A 
 few years ordinarily will have to be spent in preparation for this 
 work, and it is doubtful whether this number will remain as large 
 as seven even though during the college years others may decide to 
 preach. Among the seniors 13 per cent of the students wish to enter 
 the ministry. Among the freshmen it was noted that only 7 per 
 cent expressed a desire to enter the ministry. If this rate of decrease 
 continues, in four years no student who enters the freshman class 
 
 will choose the ministry as an occupation. 
 
 Conclusion: There is no danger that the tendency to emphasize 
 certain professions will eventually cause an over-crowding of those 
 professions, because to a large extent these choices are forced by 
 
 [57] 
 
prejudice and by the economic and intellectual condition of the race. 
 Twenty years will reveal remarkable changes and it is reasonable to 
 conclude that the future relative increase in enrollment will not be 
 greater than the relative increase in opportunities to enter different 
 occupations. 
 
 It might be thought by some that it is not necessary for North 
 Carolina to furnish enough people for the various occupations and 
 that students from other states would make up the deficiency in this 
 state. If North Carolina is leading the states in Negro education 
 and North Carolina is not satisfying its own needs it cannot be ex¬ 
 pected that lesser states could help North Carolina without doing 
 serious injury to their own people. 
 
 It is indeed lamentable that commercialism has so permeated the 
 elements of life in this country that even a college training should 
 have to justify itself on the basis of its utilitarian value. After all 
 what difference does it make if most of the things we learn in college 
 will not enable us to buy a loaf of bread ? Is the end of life the buy¬ 
 ing of bread? To a man who is really educated this mental satis¬ 
 faction of knowing something just for the joy of knowing is more 
 satisfying to him than material possessions. The sad truth is that 
 there are not many educated people. 
 
 [ 58 ] 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 TABLES 
 Table 43 
 
 Occupations of Parents of Freshmen 
 
 Students Students 
 
 Fathers 
 
 M 
 
 F 
 
 T 
 
 Mothers 
 
 M 
 
 F 
 
 T 
 
 1. Banker. 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 Barber. 
 
 .. 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 2. Barbers . 
 
 7 
 
 5 
 
 12 
 
 Bookkeeper. 
 
 .. 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 3. Blacksmith . 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 Clerk . 
 
 .. 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 4. Brakeman . 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Cooks . 
 
 .. 2 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 5. Brick Masons ... 
 
 9 
 
 5 
 
 14 
 
 Farmers . 
 
 .. 15 
 
 3 
 
 18 
 
 6. Business Men ... 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 Hair Dressers. 
 
 .. 5 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 7. Butchers. 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 Home Work . 
 
 . . 28 
 
 57 
 
 85 
 
 8. Butlers . 
 
 3 
 
 
 3 
 
 Laundresses . 
 
 .. 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 9. Carpenters. 
 
 13 
 
 6 
 
 19 
 
 Maids . 
 
 . . 2 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 10. Chauffeurs. 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 Merchants. 
 
 .. 2 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 11. Cleaner. 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Musicians . 
 
 . . 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 12. Clerks . 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 Nurses. 
 
 . . 3 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 13. Contractors . 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 
 Beal Estate Agents 
 
 .. 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 14. Cooks . 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 Seamstresses . 
 
 .. 18 
 
 15 
 
 33 
 
 15. Custodian . 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Servants . 
 
 .. 8 
 
 5 
 
 13 
 
 16. Dentist. 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 Teachers . 
 
 .. 35 
 
 25 
 
 60 
 
 17. Doctors . 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 Undertaker . 
 
 .. 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 18. Draymen . 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 Welfare Worker .. 
 
 .. 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 19. Driver. 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 20. Druggist . 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 Total. 
 
 . .127 
 
 116 
 
 243 
 
 21. Electrician . 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 22. Engineer .•.. 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 23. Farmers. 
 
 32 
 
 21 
 
 53 
 
 
 
 
 
 24. Firemen. 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 25. Fisherman . 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 26. Florist . 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 27. Grocer . 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 28. Ice man. 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 29. Insurance Agent . 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 30. Janitors . 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 31. Laborers . 
 
 17 
 
 19 
 
 36 
 
 
 
 
 
 32. Launderer . 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 33. Mail Carrier .... 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 34. Mail Clerks. 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 35. Mechanics . 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 36. Merchants . 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 [ 59 ] 
 
37. Metal Workers . . 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 38. Millers . 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 39. Ministers . 
 
 28 
 
 16 
 
 44 
 
 40. Overseer. 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 41. Painter. 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 42. Plasterers . 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 43. Plumbers . 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 44. Porters. 
 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 45. Printers . 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 46. R. R. Porters .... 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 47. Real Estate Agent 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 48. Secretary. 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 49. Shoe Repairers .. 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 50. Surveyor . 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 51. Tailors . 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 52. Teachers . 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 16 
 
 53. Undertakers .... 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 54. Waiter . 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 Total .188 124 312 
 
 Table 44 
 
 Occupations of Parents of Seniors 
 
 Students Students 
 
 Fathers 
 
 M 
 
 F 
 
 T 
 
 Mothers 
 
 M 
 
 F 
 
 T 
 
 1. Business Men . .. 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 Business Women .... 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2. Banker . 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 Farmers . 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 3. Barbers . 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 Home Workers. 
 
 10 
 
 7 
 
 17 
 
 4. Blacksmiths .... 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 Maid . 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 5. Brakemen . 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 Manicurist . 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 6. Brickmasons .... 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Nurses. 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 7. Carpenters . 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 Real Estate Agent .. 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 8. Chauffeur . 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Seamstresses . 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 9. Contractors . 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Servants . 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 10. Doctors . 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 Social Worker . 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 11. Electrician . 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 Teachers . 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 12. Farmers . 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 
 13. Firemen. 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 Total. 
 
 27 
 
 18 
 
 45 
 
 14. Laborers . 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 15. Mail Carrier .... 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 16. Mechanics . 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 17. Merchants . 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 18. Miller . 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 19. Ministers . 
 
 13 
 
 3 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 20. Tailor . 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 21. Teacher . 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total. 42 30 72 
 
 [ 60 ] 
 
Table 45 
 
 Occupations Desired by Students 
 
 Freshmen 
 
 M 
 
 F 
 
 T 
 
 Seniors 
 
 M 
 
 F 
 
 1. Agriculturists . . . 
 
 16 
 
 
 16 
 
 Artists . 
 
 
 1 
 
 2. Architects (Art) . 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 Business . 
 
 11 
 
 3 
 
 3. Athletic Director. 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 Dentists . 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 4. Barber . 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 Doctors . 
 
 12 
 
 
 5. Brickmasons .... 
 
 5 
 
 
 5 
 
 Farmers . 
 
 1 
 
 
 6. Builders 
 
 
 
 
 Journalists . 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 (Contractors) 
 
 3 
 
 
 3 
 
 Lawyers . 
 
 3 
 
 
 7. Business Men 
 
 
 
 
 Mail Carriers. 
 
 . 1 
 
 
 and Women .. 
 
 18 
 
 5 
 
 23 
 
 Musician. 
 
 
 1 
 
 8. Dramatist . 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Ministers . 
 
 . 10 
 
 1 
 
 9. Dentists . 
 
 14 
 
 
 14 
 
 Pharmacist. 
 
 . 1 
 
 
 10. Engineers . 
 
 4 
 
 
 4 
 
 Real Estate Agents. 
 
 . 2 
 
 
 11. Doctors . 
 
 46 
 
 3 
 
 49 
 
 Social Workers .... 
 
 
 1 
 
 12. Journalists . 
 
 2 
 
 
 2' 
 
 Stenographer . 
 
 
 1 
 
 13. Lawyers . 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 Teachers . 
 
 . 24 
 
 23 
 
 14. Mail Clerks. 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 Undertakers . 
 
 . 1 
 
 1 
 
 15. Mechanics . 
 
 3 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 16. Ministers . 
 
 15 
 
 
 15 
 
 Total. 
 
 . 75 
 
 34 
 
 17. Missionaries .. .. 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 18. Musicians . 
 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 
 19. Nurses . 
 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 20. Pharmacists . . . . 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 21. Religious Worker 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 22. Social Workers . 
 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 23. Teachers . 
 
 43 
 
 104 
 
 147 
 
 
 
 
 24. Undertaker . 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 25. Y. Workers. 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 Total. 
 
 200 
 
 143 
 
 343 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Table 46 
 
 
 
 Occupations of Persons Having Greatest Influence Over 
 
 Students 
 
 Freshmen 
 
 M 
 
 F 
 
 T 
 
 Seniors 
 
 M 
 
 F 
 
 Business . 
 
 6 
 
 
 6 
 
 Barbers. 
 
 . 1 
 
 
 County Agents. 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 Blacksmiths . 
 
 
 1 
 
 Doctors . 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 13 
 
 Business . 
 
 . 3 
 
 1 
 
 Dentists . 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 Dentists . 
 
 . 2 
 
 
 Farmers . 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 Doctors . 
 
 . 3 
 
 
 Hair Dressers . 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 Farmers . 
 
 . 1 
 
 
 Insurance Agents .. . 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 Ministers . 
 
 . 14 
 
 7 
 
 Lawyers . 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Missionaries. 
 
 
 1 
 
 Mail Clerks . 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 No Person . 
 
 . 20 
 
 16 
 
 Merchants. 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 Seamstresses . 
 
 . 1 
 
 
 Ministers . 
 
 15 
 
 20 
 
 35 
 
 Servants . 
 
 
 1 
 
 [ 61 ] 
 
Nurses. 2 
 
 No Person.100 
 
 Pharmacists . 3 
 
 Real Estate Agents .. 2 
 
 Y. Secretaries . 1 
 
 Seamstresses . 
 
 Shoe Makers . 1 
 
 Students . 1 
 
 Teachers . 61 
 
 U. S. Pres. 1 
 
 Undertakers . 2 
 
 1 3 
 
 50 150 
 
 1 4 
 
 2 
 
 1 2 
 1 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 47 108 
 
 1 
 
 1 3 
 
 Statesmen. 1 
 
 Students . 1 
 
 Teachers . 25 6 
 
 Undertakers . 2 
 
 Merchants. 1 
 
 Pharmacists . 1 
 
 Total. 75 34 
 
 Total .214 129 343 
 
 Table 47 
 
 Church Affiliations 
 
 Seniors 
 
 Freshmen M F T M F 
 
 Baptist . 75 70 145 20 19 
 
 Catholic . 2 2 
 
 Christian. 3 3 6 1 
 
 Congregational . 4 1 5 2 
 
 Episcopal . 3 3 1 2 
 
 Holiness . 2 2 1 
 
 Methodist . 72 55 127 26 9 
 
 Presbyterian . 33 3 36 22 2 
 
 Total. 191 135 326 71 34 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 31 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 109 
 
 T 
 
 39 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 35 
 
 24 
 
 105 
 
 [ 62 ] 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 1 
 
 
eeks 
 
 FIVE 
 en out 
 
FOR USE ONLY IN 
 
 THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION