Presidential Addresses
University presidents during the ninteenth century were required to discuss matters not only related to their universities or to education, but also called on to discuss important issues at the time. This collection of speeches given while Andrew Wylie and Theophilus A. Wylie were president help to represent the kinds of ideas university presidents expressed in a period in which Indiana University was still establishing its place in the community.
Andrew Wylie
Andrew Wylie served as president of Indiana University from 1829 until 1851. In these speeches, Andrew demonstrates a concern with the purpose of education and the idea of what it meant to be an American, a particularly important issue at a time when many of the United States' founding fathers were either dead or no longer active in politics. These addresses also reflect Andrew's concern with the general purpose of education, particularly professional education. Andrew Wylie sought to integrate education within the larger national life of the United States during the mid-ninteenth century.
Theophilus A. Wylie
Theophilus Wylie served as interim president of Indiana University three times: 1859, 1860, and 1875. This address, given to the undergraduates of Indiana University, emphasizes the moral aspect of education and the need for students to integrate their learning with character and wisdom that come from understanding of Christian theology.