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Washington Missionary College

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 31, 1916

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 43.

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Washington Missionary College

By B. F. Machlan

THE vision that appeared to the founders of Washington Missionary College was that of a great company of young people who, for want of proper education, were fast losing their hold upon God; of great cities unwarned because of a dearth of properly trained workers; and of millions of earth’s ignorant, sin-stricken inhabitants perishing in far-off heathen lands without a knowledge of Christ. Obedience to this vision resulted
in the establishment of the college, and while its status as an institution carrying full college work dates but two years back, it has in this short time had a remarkable growth, far exceeding the fondest hopes of its promoters.
It has been the aim of the board of trustees and faculty to provide such facilities as would give a proper training in the following courses of study: Collegiate, ministerial, medical evangelistic, Bible workers’, normal, commercial, and music; also a course in foreign mission preparation.
The ministerial and collegiate courses lead to the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and give the training necessary for an efficient ministry. The medical evangelistic course is designed to meetthe needs of nurses who wish a better preparation for medical missionary work. The Bible workers’ course trains for house-to-house work, and has proved a great blessing to those wishing to enter this important line of activity.
The great demand for competent teachers is to be supplied through the medium of the normal department. Plans are being made to conduct a strong normal school at Washington, and this course will be greatly appreciated by all who have the welfare of the children at heart.
The music course has been very popular. The advantages to a music student at Washington are great. There are many opportunities to hear the leading vocal and instrumental artists of the day, as well as the best symphony orchestras of the country.
Plans are being laid for a strong commercial department, which will be up to date in its equipment, and will fully meet the needs of young people desiring a business education.
The foreign missions department appeals to a large class of workers, and has demonstrated its value to the cause of God by preparing a large number of young men and women who are laboring successfully in foreign fields.
Much attention is given to industrial education. There are strong courses in woodwork and carpentry, in printing, and in domestic science, including sewing, dressmaking, millinery, cooking, laundering, general housework, and domestic economy.
From the standpoint of location, Washington Missionary College enjoys many special advantages. It is at the headquarters of the denominational work. Missionaries often pass through
Washington on their return from the most distant mission fields, and the students have an opportunity to gain from them, at first hand, knowledge of the greatest interest and value.
Moreover, the presence here at headquarters of our leading General Conference and North American Division men gives unique opportunities to the students to get acquainted with them, and with the various lines of work which they represent. These men not only give lectures from time to time to the whole body of students, but are often called upon to give informal talks to student groups in various lines of activity connected with the school, and thus come into helpful contact with our students in many different ways.
The advantages offered by Washington as an educational center are remarkable.
The city itself is a great educating factor, being the governing center of the most extensive democracy in the world. The House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Supreme Court can be visited on various occasions, and many interesting and practical addresses heard. Washington is also a center for national and world-wide conventions, and the addresses given on such occasions are of great interest to students.
The national meeting of the Layman’s Missionary Movement held here last spring was considered by many to be the greatest missionary gathering since the world conference at Edinburgh held six years ago. A number of our advanced students were admitted by special ticket, and arrangements were made by which they were able to get the full benefit of this remarkable gathering.
The Library of Congress, containing more than two million volumes and an excellent reading-room, is accessible to every student in the college. It has the third largest collection of books in the world, the National Library in Paris and the British Museum being the only libraries exceeding it in this respect. Moreover, our teachers have the privilege of drawing books from the Library of Congress, and of making use of them in their classroom work. Learning how to rightly use a library of this kind is in itself a valuable part of a liberal education.
The various government departments afford not only excellent facilities for study, but have connected with them men of wide experience in their specialties, all of whom may be consulted by the advanced students of Washington College. For instance, a student doing advanced scientific work may often make arrangements for conducting his experiments in the government laboratories, and if he works out something worth while, the government will sometimes publish it for him. No government in the world is doing so much in certain lines of scientific investigation as is the United States, and all its varied facilities are at the disposal of such students of Washington College as are qualified to benefit by them.
The special privileges afforded by Washington are not only available to our students, but are also convenient of access. For a five-cent fare a student may ride on the trolley car from Takoma Park to the Library of Congress, the Capitol, the White House, or the Treasury, or to the center of the shopping district. Moreover, the school carries on its work on Sunday, but Friday is an entirely free day, thus giving the students ample opportunity to see the interesting sights of Washington and do necessary shopping, or to work in the Library of Congress or the government departments, as they may see fit. Thus the facilities exist, and the college work is so arranged that its students can make free use of them.
With a record of two hundred and twenty to foreign fields in seven years, and thirty-eight graduates for 1915-16, Washington Missionary College ought to recommend itself to all as the gateway to service at home and abroad.
B. F. MACHLAN, Pres. Washington Missionary College.
WASHINGTON MISSIONARY COLLEGE, WASHINGTON, D. C.
WASHINGTON MISSIONARY COLLEGE, WASHINGTON, D. C.