June 12, 1901

President Taylor conferred the bachelor’s degree on 142 members of the Class of 1901, Vassar’s largest graduating class to date, at Commencement in the Chapel. Three of the senior essays had literary and textual subjects, two discussed educational matters and one dealt with history. “The Song Writer’s Art,” “Opposing Tendencies in Modern Drama” and “The Spirit of Modern Nature Poetry” were presented, respectively, by Mary Barbour Whitman ’01, Margaret Pinckney Jackson ’01 and Helen Eldred Storke ’01. Louise Sommer Holmquist ’01 described “By-Products of a College Education,” and Clara Stillman Reed ’01 considered “The Bible School in Education.” Ada Jeanette Lord ’01 shed “A New Light upon Ancient History.”

In his remarks, President Taylor announced that the residence hall under construction would be named in honor of charter trustee Edward Lathrop and that trustee John D. Rockefeller had given $110,000 for the erection of a new residence hall to be known as Eliza Davison Hall, in memory of his mother. The president noted that these developments came none too soon. “The college is growing rapidly,” he said, “and we are outgrowing our accommodations. We have been compelled to reject 150 students who would have liked to become freshmen next Fall, solely on this account. In five years our student body has grown from 570 to 750 and our Faculty has increased by fourteen professors.”

The New York Times