Scholarship Committee Searches College for 'Pious' Pre-Ministers

Ten Hollis Scholarship stipends will be available this year to "pious" undergraduates who are candidates for the ministry, Dean Bender announced yesterday.

The terms of the award, as stipulated in 1722 by Thomas Hollis, a London merchant, are that the candidates be "pious young students devoted to the work of the Ministry of the Gospel of Christ Jesus but who cannot comfortably proceed

Hollis, who also endowed the Hollis without some charitable assistance." Professorship of Divinity and the Hollis Professorship of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, further wished that the administration "avoid nominating now and hereafter Dunces or Rakes as Persons not fit to partake of my Bounty."

The rather unusual requirements that Hollis established for his fund have perplexed the Scholarship Committee.

The committee has resolved the problem of determining the value of ten 1722 English pounds in 1957 American dollars by dividing the income of the fund into ten equal parts of $43.07.

Bender indicated that "Hollis scholarships will be considered in effect as prizes," and therefore wouldn't affect scholarships which the winners already held.

Secondly the committee has had to face the difficulty of finding eligible candidates to receive the awards.

At present the committee has the names of 41 undergraduates holding scholarships who plan to enter the ministry. Bender stated that there were probably others who meet benefactor Hollis' criteria.

But beyond these requirements, it was Hollis' "mind and will . . . that not less than one third part of the number of Students.....be of that Belief or Persuasion called Baptist, both now hereafter and alwaies." The Scholarship Committee has taken the "not less than one third part" to mean that a least four of the winners must be Baptists.

Those prospective ministers who feel that they meet the criteria are urged to consult the Committee office at 20 University Hall within the next two weeks. Candidates should supply a statement giving name, denomination, and intention to enter the ministry.