Times Have Changed at UGA–Ask Monticello Native
Monticello legend Phil Jordon spends his free time as a historian, collecting documents of interest regarding his family and other points of interest. Mr. Phil’s collection is fascinating and impressive, including a three-inch binder chronicling the Jordan family’s war experiences, dating back to the first battle of the Revolutionary War. Mr. Phil’s stories are captivating, his mind a living history book of the city of Monticello.
One of Mr. Phil’s most intriguing documents is a copy of The Red & Black, The University of Georgia’s student-run newspaper, from 1910. The document is remarkably intact, a two-leaf publication in red ink. Though a Georgia Tech alumnus himself, it dates to his father’s days as a student at UGA.
Currently, The Red & Black is filled with numerous sections and complex graphics, but in 1910, The Red & Black was managed by the Athletic Association of UGA, and sports were the primary coverage of the paper.
Mr. Phil’s November 21st copy reports on a Georgia v. Georgia Tech football game that ended in a dramatic UGA victory.
“An immense crowd, probably 4,000 people, saw the game,” the paper reads, stating that this was record-breaking attendance. Today, UGA home football games bring in average crowds of over 90,000, exemplifying the contrast between UGA then and now.
Even more remarkable is a copy of a letter sent to Mr. Phil’s father, Erasmus Glover Jordan, Sr., in September, 1910. The note was presumably sent out to all young men that were already enrolled at UGA for the fall. The letterhead reads “THE STATE NEEDS EVERY EDUCATED MAN IT CAN GET,” and is signed by David C. Barrow, who was the president of the university at the time.
“Have you sought to lead any young man into better preparation for his life’s work?” Barrow wrote. “If you have not done this will you not look around you and see if there is not some one whom you may thus influence? Bring some one with you who is willing to undergo the work necessary to obtain an education. It seems to me that the best service which you can render the State is to induce some young man to secure an education.”
With over 34,000 total students, today’s UGA is much too large for current president Jere Morehead to send out personally signed letters to each student.
Mr. Phil was shocked by Barrow’s request. “A president of a college asking you to bring someone with you!” Mr. Phil exclaimed with an incredulous chuckle. His shock was well-placed.
Today, acceptance to the University of Georgia is a difficult feat. Students must have high SAT or ACT scores, solid grades, a slew of extracurricular activities, and teacher recommendations. But in the days of E. Glover Jordan, Sr., UGA was excited to procure any student it could, going as far as to have the president of the university encourage students to bring their friends.
Secondary education in Georgia was rarer then, when many young men stayed in their hometowns to help with family agricultural work rather than pursue college. Mr. Phil noted that his father only stayed at UGA for two years himself.
“He quit Georgia after two years and came back to Monticello to work for his daddy, who had a cotton gin. And then he got drafted into the Army. He was in France in WWI,” Mr. Phil said of his father.
At that time, a degree from Georgia’s flagship university was an exceptional accomplishment that brought almost certain employment. While it is even more difficult to graduate with a bachelor’s degree from a major university today, students are pressured to continue their education into professional programs due to the competition that increased college enrollment brings. A degree, while still valuable and important, does not bring the same security as it did 100 years ago.
While many recent high school graduates may wish that they could experience the education system of days gone by, it is important to note that the increased competitiveness of current college admissions is emblematic of a state that is becoming more and more highly educated.
However great the changes in higher education are, one part of Barrow’s letter is timeless.
“I hope you come back ready for work, ready for play, ready to do anything for the good of the University, ready to oppose anything which may work her harm,” it reads.
This was the responsibility of students in 1910, and still in 2014 it is the responsibility of students to approach their education with diligence and determination, and to take pride in their school.
