Notes on the Founding of the Department
NOTES ON THE FOUNDING OF THE DEPARTMENT
NOTES ON THE FOUNDING OF THE DEPARTMENT
by Edward L. Long
by Edward L. Long
Dr. Edward LeRoy Long, Jr., was hired during the month of July, 1951, to begin work in September of that year, teaching one philosophy course each quarter. This assignment was considered a fourth-time appointment and carried the title of Part-time Associate Professor of Philosophy and Ethics. The appointment was listed in the state budget as a position in Business Administration, and Dr. Long reported to Professor T. W. Knote, chairman of the Business Administration department--the department that at the time also did the teaching of history, political science, and public administration. Classes were taught in old Commerce Hall that stood on the north side of the Mall just a few hundred yards in from Main Street. The title for the position was intended to indicate that value concerns would be a central part of the program while at the same time to avoid the many problems that would have arisen trying to introduce courses in religion under state funding. Three courses were introduced: Phil 301, an introductory ethics course primarily philosophical in nature; Phil 302, a course dealing with epistemology and metaphysics; and Phil 401, a discussion of the history, methodology, and professional ethics of the sciences. The first two were open to students above the freshman level, and the last to students above the sophomore level. Dr. Long had a Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and had taught physics there briefly before entering Union Theological Seminary in New York to study theology. He was an ordained Presbyterian minister and had continued, after earning his Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1948, to work on a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics under the joint program of Union Seminary and Columbia University. He had this degree in hand before coming to VPI and had published two books. In 1950-51 he was a graduate assistant in Christian ethics at Union. Dr. Long was hired simultaneously with his appointment at Tech as Minister to Students at the Blacksburg Presbyterian Church, a position involving a major part of his time and providing the major part of his remuneration. He was active during the initial two and one-quarter years both as a clergyperson (e.g., attending meetings of the Blacksburg Ministerial Association) as well as a faculty member. The interest and enrollment in the three courses grew steadily from an average class size of between fifteen to twenty students (with no class smaller than eight) to an average class size of around thirty-five. Hearing that the Danforth Foundation had a regular program to aid in the establishing of Departments of Religion, an application was submitted in the winter of 1954 for its help in the expansion of the work. It was proposed to add three additional courses in philosophy with state funds and to add six courses in religion with funds from the Danforth Foundation. It was also proposed to establish a separate department responsible directly to the Dean of Applied Science and Business Administration. The funds from the Danforth Foundation were administered through the VPI Educational Foundation rather than through the state budget, Dr. Long getting two checks and being ineligible for the state pension plan. The application to the Danforth Foundation was successful, though word to this effect was received sufficiently late in the 1953-54 school year to make it wise to defer the beginning of the new program to the second quarter of the 1954-55 school year so that adequate planning could be done and notice of the new offerings given in ample time for student scheduling. In January of 1955, at the beginning of the winter quarter, Dr. Long became Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy and Religion and moved into an office on the third flood of Commerce Hall. A new curriculum was introduced at this time. To the three courses already being offered in philosophy, the following courses were added: a two-quarter course in the History of Philosophy (Phil311-312) and a course in the Philosophy of Religion. The course in the Philosophy of Religion did not actually get offered until somewhat later. The curriculum in religion consisted of Rei 211-212, Biblical Literature; Rei 301, Religious Institutions in Western Culture; Rei 302, Religious Ideas in Western Thought; Rei 303, Religion in American Life, and Rel304, World Religions. The course on Religion in American Life was also delayed in actually being offered. The work of the new department grew steadily, partly because some of the divisions of the school added an elective in philosophy (not in religion) to their standard programs, significantly because with the new locus of the department students from all parts of the school were attracted in more representative numbers, and also because it was normal to have increases in enrollments as courses were offered at more times in the schedule each week. Fundamentals of Philosophy had to be offered in multiple sections very soon after founding the new department, and in the winter of 1957 the services of a part-time instructor were needed to help with the instructional load, which had grown to about 120 students in six sections (five courses). One of the interesting aspects of the work of the department was the number of faculty members in all parts of the school who wished to audit. Dr. Long had about thirty such auditors in the first three years of his teaching. The part-time instruction was done by Orrin Magill, a retired Y.M.C.A. secretary who had begun his career at Tech before going to China for many years with theY and who had just moved back into Blacksburg to retire. In the spring of 1956, facing the prospect that the Danforth Foundation grant would run out at the end of the 1956-57 school year, Dr. Long and Dr. Newman sought to secure funding for the Department. The state budget could be expected to support the work in philosophy, but the work in religion had to be funded in other ways. It was decided to fund a two-man department. Several unsuccessful feelers were made to a number of foundations, and finally a proposal was drawn up for submission to the Old Dominion Foundation, of which Paul Mellon was the founder and benefactor. Mr. Paul Mellon gave the money personally, rather than through the Old Dominion Foundation, in June of 1956 and thus assured the future of the department beyond June of 1957. The year 1956-57 was devoted to the search for a second member of the Department. Dr. Guy Hammond, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, was selected to join the faculty. Meanwhile, Dr. Long was approached by Oberlin College to consider taking a position there as Associate Professor of Religion, and in April he made the decision to leave VPI.
Dr. Edward LeRoy Long, Jr., was hired during the month of July, 1951, to begin work in September of that year, teaching one philosophy course each quarter. This assignment was considered a fourth-time appointment and carried the title of Part-time Associate Professor of Philosophy and Ethics. The appointment was listed in the state budget as a position in Business Administration, and Dr. Long reported to Professor T. W. Knote, chairman of the Business Administration department--the department that at the time also did the teaching of history, political science, and public administration. Classes were taught in old Commerce Hall that stood on the north side of the Mall just a few hundred yards in from Main Street. The title for the position was intended to indicate that value concerns would be a central part of the program while at the same time to avoid the many problems that would have arisen trying to introduce courses in religion under state funding. Three courses were introduced: Phil 301, an introductory ethics course primarily philosophical in nature; Phil 302, a course dealing with epistemology and metaphysics; and Phil 401, a discussion of the history, methodology, and professional ethics of the sciences. The first two were open to students above the freshman level, and the last to students above the sophomore level. Dr. Long had a Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and had taught physics there briefly before entering Union Theological Seminary in New York to study theology. He was an ordained Presbyterian minister and had continued, after earning his Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1948, to work on a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics under the joint program of Union Seminary and Columbia University. He had this degree in hand before coming to VPI and had published two books. In 1950-51 he was a graduate assistant in Christian ethics at Union. Dr. Long was hired simultaneously with his appointment at Tech as Minister to Students at the Blacksburg Presbyterian Church, a position involving a major part of his time and providing the major part of his remuneration. He was active during the initial two and one-quarter years both as a clergyperson (e.g., attending meetings of the Blacksburg Ministerial Association) as well as a faculty member. The interest and enrollment in the three courses grew steadily from an average class size of between fifteen to twenty students (with no class smaller than eight) to an average class size of around thirty-five. Hearing that the Danforth Foundation had a regular program to aid in the establishing of Departments of Religion, an application was submitted in the winter of 1954 for its help in the expansion of the work. It was proposed to add three additional courses in philosophy with state funds and to add six courses in religion with funds from the Danforth Foundation. It was also proposed to establish a separate department responsible directly to the Dean of Applied Science and Business Administration. The funds from the Danforth Foundation were administered through the VPI Educational Foundation rather than through the state budget, Dr. Long getting two checks and being ineligible for the state pension plan. The application to the Danforth Foundation was successful, though word to this effect was received sufficiently late in the 1953-54 school year to make it wise to defer the beginning of the new program to the second quarter of the 1954-55 school year so that adequate planning could be done and notice of the new offerings given in ample time for student scheduling. In January of 1955, at the beginning of the winter quarter, Dr. Long became Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy and Religion and moved into an office on the third flood of Commerce Hall. A new curriculum was introduced at this time. To the three courses already being offered in philosophy, the following courses were added: a two-quarter course in the History of Philosophy (Phil311-312) and a course in the Philosophy of Religion. The course in the Philosophy of Religion did not actually get offered until somewhat later. The curriculum in religion consisted of Rei 211-212, Biblical Literature; Rei 301, Religious Institutions in Western Culture; Rei 302, Religious Ideas in Western Thought; Rei 303, Religion in American Life, and Rel304, World Religions. The course on Religion in American Life was also delayed in actually being offered. The work of the new department grew steadily, partly because some of the divisions of the school added an elective in philosophy (not in religion) to their standard programs, significantly because with the new locus of the department students from all parts of the school were attracted in more representative numbers, and also because it was normal to have increases in enrollments as courses were offered at more times in the schedule each week. Fundamentals of Philosophy had to be offered in multiple sections very soon after founding the new department, and in the winter of 1957 the services of a part-time instructor were needed to help with the instructional load, which had grown to about 120 students in six sections (five courses). One of the interesting aspects of the work of the department was the number of faculty members in all parts of the school who wished to audit. Dr. Long had about thirty such auditors in the first three years of his teaching. The part-time instruction was done by Orrin Magill, a retired Y.M.C.A. secretary who had begun his career at Tech before going to China for many years with theY and who had just moved back into Blacksburg to retire. In the spring of 1956, facing the prospect that the Danforth Foundation grant would run out at the end of the 1956-57 school year, Dr. Long and Dr. Newman sought to secure funding for the Department. The state budget could be expected to support the work in philosophy, but the work in religion had to be funded in other ways. It was decided to fund a two-man department. Several unsuccessful feelers were made to a number of foundations, and finally a proposal was drawn up for submission to the Old Dominion Foundation, of which Paul Mellon was the founder and benefactor. Mr. Paul Mellon gave the money personally, rather than through the Old Dominion Foundation, in June of 1956 and thus assured the future of the department beyond June of 1957. The year 1956-57 was devoted to the search for a second member of the Department. Dr. Guy Hammond, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, was selected to join the faculty. Meanwhile, Dr. Long was approached by Oberlin College to consider taking a position there as Associate Professor of Religion, and in April he made the decision to leave VPI.