(7.) Apparatus and instruments to be of the most approved style.
(8.) That non-resident professors, men eminent in science or art, be secured to deliver lectures before the students and such citizens as desire to attend. [This provision was never put into practice. ]
The proposition to admit ladies to the college on the same basis as gentlemen, was strongly urged by the committee on organization, and finally adopted by a vote of nine to three.
This sensible paragraph occurs in the committee's report on organization: "Believing as we do that the success of the college will, in a great degree, depend upon the president and his qualifications for the work, we have devoted much time and labor to this most important mission, to secure a man of liberal education, large experience and great executive ability, and who, moreover, comprehends the nature and leading objects of an agricultural college. After several months of careful investigation we are confident that we have found and secured a gentleman eminently qualified for the place, in the person of Prof. A. S. Welch."
A. S. Welch was elected to the presidency of the college May 11, 1868. He assisted in the preliminary organization of the college that year; was given leave of absence from November to March next, when he was formally inaugurated as president March 17, 1869.
The following professors were elected early in 1868: G. W. Jones, mathematics; N. S. Townsend, practical agriculture, horticulture and zoology ; A. E. Foote, chemistry. Students were admitted to the preliminary term beginning October 21 and closing January 7. The duties of president were discharged by Prof. Jones during the absence of President Welch. The total number of students enrolled was seventy. Many difficulties were met during the term. The manual labor system did not work well; the heating of the building was poor, and the lighting was done by candles. On March 17, 1869, the Iowa Agricultural College was formally dedicated to the cause of the new education, and its officers inaugurated. The address of welcome was delivered by Lieut.-Gov. Scott.
An eloquent address was delivered by the Hon. B. F. Gue, president of the board of trustees, and truly the father of the college. The idea for which he had labored for years so untiringly and unselfishly he knew would be realized. An institution dedicated to the purpose of providing the industrial classes a "liberal and practical education in the several pursuits and professions of life" was now a fact, not a vision. He now saw that the time had come when science would take the laborer by the hand and lift him up with the loving injunction: "I say unto thee, arise." The address was mainly historical and expository of the principles on which the college was founded.
Governor Merrill delivered the charter and seal to the president, saying: "The hopes and good wishes of the people of the State are centered on you, eager for your success. Your connection dates from its opening chapters, and its policy is yours to originate, shape and establish, with no mistakes of others to correct, with no errors of the past to redeem by the success of the future. Here, then, let the utility of scientific labor be demonstrated. From this institution let there go forth in annual procession a line of educated, intelligent men and women trained in the secrets of nature which underlie their profession, and filled with an earnest, devoted enthusiasm for their work. May the fruits of your labors be as abundant and valuable as the fruits of the soil whose mysteries you are called to reveal."