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Bethany College Addresses (1841)

 

B Y - L A W S

OF

B E T H A N Y   C O L L E G E.

      THE Faculty shall be composed of the President and Professors; a majority of whom, at any regular or legally notified meeting, shall constitute a quorum: and at all meetings of the Faculty the President, when present, shall preside.

      The President shall exercise a general superintendence and control over the Institution.

      A Secretary shall be chosen, who shall keep a faithful record of the proceedings of the Faculty; which, at all times, shall be subject to the examination of the Trustees.

      The regular meetings of the Faculty shall be held on the first Monday of every month during the session. Special meetings shall be called by the President at his discretion, or upon request of any one of the Professors; of which due notice shall be given to the Faculty by the Secretary.

      The collegiate year shall commence on the 1st day of September, and terminate on the 4th of July following.

      Students who remain at College during the recess, shall be under the control of the Faculty, and may have access to the Library, subject only to a charge of twelve dollars for boarding, washing, &c.

      Each Professor shall have a general charge or oversight of the Students, and especially when in attendance upon his department; subject in all cases, however, to the superintendence of the President.

      It shall constitute a part of the duties of each Professor to keep a regular account of the absence of each member of his class, the degree of his attention and proficiency, and of his general demeanor, and report the same at the monthly meetings of the Faculty, to be forwarded by the Secretary to the parent or guardian of the Student.

      Each Professor shall make a monthly report to the President--exhibiting the days and the subject of lecture and examination, and the time occupied by each respectively.

      It shall be the duty of the President to prepare and lay before the Trustees at every annual meeting, a consolidated report, founded on the monthly reports of the Professors--exhibiting, 1st. A concise and clear statement of the heads of the lectures or subjects of instruction delivered or taught by each of the Professors during the year. 2d. A statement of the number of times which any Professor shall have failed to lecture or attend his class on the regular days appointed for such purposes, the time occupied by each Professor in the delivery of his lectures and the examination of his classes, and the number of times each Professor shall have failed to make his monthly report.

      The College Hall shall be opened every Lord's day morning for religious worship and instruction, to be performed by respectable ministers of various denominations; and it shall be the duty of all Students to attend worship either there or at some other place.-- [88] Ministers of the gospel, and pious young men of indigent circumstances, preparing for the ministry in any of the religious denominations, shall be permitted to attend College without charge of tuition.

      No Student shall be guilty of non-attendance on school, inattention to the exercises prescribed, misbehavior, or any indecorum in school.

      No Student shall permit any disturbing noises in his room, or make them any where within the precincts of the College.

      No Student shall introduce, keep, or use within the precincts of the College, weapons or arms of any kind, or gunpowder, or keep a servant, horse, or dog.

      Riotous, disorderly, indecent, or contumacious conduct of any Student shall be punished by any of the modes hereinafter mentioned, at the discretion of the President, Professors, or Faculty.

      Habits of expense, of dissoluteness, of dissipation, of playing at games of chance, of profane swearing, or of any immoral or useless indulgences, obstructive to the acquisition of science, or otherwise pernicious in their influence, shall be subject to any of the punishments hereinafter prescribed. And every Student who shall, within the precincts of the College, introduce, keep, or use any spiritous or vinous liquor, or any card, dice, or other implements of gaming, shall be subject to like punishment.

      Any Student violating or contemning any order of the President or Faculty, or insubordinate to any lawful sentence pronounced against him, shall be deemed guilty of contumacy, and punished at the discretion of the Faculty. Smoking segars, or any other use of tobacco, is at all times strictly forbidden within the College precincts.

      Injuring or defacing in any manner whatsoever, by writing or otherwise, the buildings, fences, gates, trees, shrubbery, &c., of the Institution, is strictly forbidden; and any Student so offending shall be subject to fine and punishment at the discretion of the Faculty.

      Playing at any games, or indulging in any unbecoming conduct on the Lord's day, shall be regarded as disorderly conduct, subjecting the offender to the action of the Faculty.

      The use of musical instruments is interdicted before dinner, after 10 o'clock at night, and on Lord's days.

      No Student shall be permitted to absent himself from College without permission from the President.

      Every Student shall deposite with the President, or some one of the Faculty, if his parents or guardians, require it, all the money, checks, bills, drafts, and other available funds, which he shall have in his possession, or under his control, in any manner intended to defray his expenses while a Student of Bethany College.

      In like manner, if requested, he shall deposite with the President, or some one of the Faculty, all the funds he shall receive while a Student of Bethany College, for the purposes aforesaid.

      At the end of the first half session he shall deposite enough to pay the expenses of the second half, or balance of the session; and if any Student fail to pay in advance the last instalment of his expenses, as herein required, and shall be in default ten days, the President shall report him to the Faculty, that proper measures may be taken to compel performance, and, if necessary, to punish the defaulter. [89]

      When the Student shall deposite any funds with the President, or any of the Faculty, he shall take from him a fair receipt, stating the amount deposited and the several purposes to which it is to be applied; and the person with whom he deposites shall disburse the same by payment and settlement with the Treasurer for his College dues, and in payment of such necessary personal expenses and pecuniary advancements as he may authorize or deem necessary--acting for the time as guardian over his pecuniary affairs. And at the end of each session, or when required, he shall render an account of his disbursements, and pay over the balance, if any. No Student, thus depositing, shall contract a debt or make any purchase without the written permission of his Bursar; and for every thing purchased by him he shall forthwith pay the cash or draw upon his Bursar, except upon license from the President as hereafter provided.

      The President of Bethany College shall be, and is hereby empowered to grant licence to Students of this Institution to contract such debts as he may think proper, in the manner contemplated and authorized by the first section of the Act of the General Assembly, regulating and restraining the terms on which credit shall be allowed to Students, passed on the 1st of March, 1838.

      Any Student contracting any debt forbidden by the provisions of the Act aforesaid, shall be subject to punishment at the discretion of the Faculty.

      The bell shall be rung every morning throughout the collegiate year at dawn. The Students shall rise at this signal, and assemble in the rooms for general meeting, to attend on worship, at such hour as the Faculty may determine.

      It shall be the duty of the President to keep a general supervision of the internal management of the Steward's Inn.

      On matriculating each Student shall sign his name in a book, to be kept for that purpose by the Secretary; in which shall be stated his age, the name and residence of his father or guardian, under a caption in the following words, which shall be distinctly read to him before he signs his name, viz.--'After having carefully read the Rules and Regulations of Bethany College, I subscribe myself a Student thereof; and promise to be punctual, orderly at worship, recitations, and all the College exercises; to be diligent in study; to be strictly moral in language and conduct; to be respectful to the Officers of the Institution and courteous to my fellow-Students; and that I enter the College with a desire to reap the benefit of its instruction, and with a determined resolution to conform to all its laws and regulations.'

      The dress of the Students shall be uniform and plain--shall be of a dark grey, or black color--at a price not exceeding six dollars a-yard--and the coat shall be made single-breasted, and the collar bound round with braid; and a star worked in black silk on each end of it: Provided, that a Student may be allowed to wear any clothes which he may have had when he matriculated; and in Summer any cheap light garments approved by the Faculty. It is also recommended by the Trustees that the Kentucky Jeans be selected as the cloth for common wearing apparel.

      The punishments shall be--1st. Reproof by a Professor, or by the President, privately, or in presence of the class of the offender, or of [89] the whole school, or dismission from the class during the day. 2d. Rustication, dismission, and expulsion. The first may be executed by the President or any one of the Faculty. The second shall require the action of the Faculty; and in case of expulsion the sentence shall not be final till confirmed by the Trustees.

      Rustication shall be a suspension of College privileges, and removal from the precincts to some retired place, designated in the sentence of rustication, for a term not less than one, nor more than four weeks.

      Dismission shall be a discharge and removal from the College, and entire severance of all College rights and privileges for the balance of the collegiate year during which such sentence may have been pronounced.

      Expulsion being a sentence of reprobation, shall be a cancelling of all College honors, rights, and privileges forever; and no Student who may have been expelled from this or any other Literary Institution, shall, during the continuance of such sentence, ever be permitted to enter the precincts of this College.

      Upon the infliction of any of the second class of punishments, it shall be the duty of the President promptly, to inform, the parent or guardian of the Student, of such sentence.

      It shall be the duty of the Steward to visit the rooms of the Students at least once-a-week, for the purpose of seeing that the servants do their duty, and that the comfort of the Students is sufficiently attended to.

      The Steward shall furnish the Students with clean sheets and pillow-cases at least once-a-fortnight, and, with clean towels at least twice-a-week.

      It shall be the duty of the Steward to have the rooms of the Students well swept and ventilated every day, and to take such other means for promoting the comfort and health of the department as the President may require.

      The Steward shall be required to furnish to the President a list of such Students as may be absent from any meal, and of those who do not appear till half an hour after the bell has been rung.

      The Steward shall not be required to furnish meals for Students who are not in the dining room within half an hour from the ringing of the bell--unless good reason can be shown for such absence.

      From the 1st of September to the 1st of March following, the hour of breakfast shall be from 7 to 8 o'clock; of dinner, 1 o'clock; and supper, 6 to 7 o'clock, as the Faculty may decide. From the 1st of March to the 4th of July, the hours shall be 6 to 7 o'clock A. M., 1 o'clock, and 6 to 7 o'clock P. M., as the Faculty shall determine; at which hours the College bell shall be rung, and the dining-room opened.

      When any servant about the Steward's Inn, from bad habits or misconduct, shall be deemed by the Faculty unfit to remain at Bethany College, it shall be the duty of the Steward to dismiss such servant; and upon failure to do so, upon proper notice, he shall be liable to fine at the discretion of the Faculty.

      The Steward shall be responsible for the cleanliness of the tenements and grounds in his occupation, and shall cause the sweepings and offal from them to be daily removed to such places as may be [91] designated by the President or Faculty. If he fail herein he shall be fined for each offence at the discretion of the Faculty.

      The practice of keeping or raising hogs within the precincts is forbidden; and any one living within the precincts and violating this prohibition, shall be liable to a fine of not less than one, nor more than ten dollars, for each hog or pig kept within the precincts more than 24 hours, to be assessed by the Faculty.

      The Steward shall not furnish luxurious fare to the Students; but the fare shall be plentiful, plain, served neatly, and well dressed--of good and wholesome viands--and in all its details conformable to such rules as the Faculty may prescribe.

      The Steward shall furnish boarding, lodging, washing, fuel, and one candle for every two Students till bed hour; also, proper attendance of servants for domestic and menial duties, and attendance upon the immediate vicinage requirements of Students; the details of all which shall be regulated by the Faculty; for all of which his compensation shall be one hundred dollars for each Student per collegiate year. The clothes to be washed for each Student shall not exceed nine pieces in Winter, and twelve in Summer, per week; and whenever the washing shall not be done in proper manner, the Faculty may authorize the Students to have it done elsewhere, and deduct the price thereof from his board.

      Students entering College after the commencement of the collegiate year, shall pay board only for the time unexpired, at the yearly rate.

      If at any time the Steward shall fail to comply with the rules herein before prescribed, or with such as may hereafter be prescribed by the Faculty, there shall be such deduction made from the amount of board allowed him as the Faculty shall judge proper.

      The Faculty shall have power from time to time to prescribe regulations of police, not inconsistent with the laws of the land or the enactments of this Board; which regulations shall be submitted to the Trustees at their next succeeding meeting, and shall be in force till disapproved by the Trustees or repealed by the Faculty.

      The President, in connexion with the Professor of each department, shall decide upon the course of studies, the times to be occupied in lecturing and examining, by each and all the details connected with the studies, &c. of the Institution; and shall report such arrangements as may be adopted to the Board of Trustees at their next meeting thereafter.

      Any person residing in the vicinage of the College may be permitted to attend College studies, boarding at his residence, subject to such tuition fees as the Faculty may think proper.

A. CAMPBELL, President.      
W. F. M. ARNY, Secretary. [92]

 

[IABC 88-92.]


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