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A SALUTARY INFLUENCE Samuel G. Hefelbower (1871-1950) President of the College from 1904 to 1910. in 1904 was behind the times, both academically and financially.6" Having been elected by an almost evenly divided board with little more than a quorum present, after two previous efforts to find a widely acceptable candidate had utterly failed, Hefelbower must have wondered whether it would ever be possible for him to unite the constituencies in a way almost certainly required to bring the College up to date. Rejecting a formal inauguration and the immediate opportunity which it would provide publicly to chart a course for the future, the new president spent his first year in office performing his campus duties (which still included teaching responsibilities), attending synod meetings, and visiting New England colleges in search of 6eWhile admitting the problems, Rowe insisted that "it must not be assumed,... that the College was in a deplorable state, so far as the work that was done was concerned. In spite of limitations, good work was done at Gettysburg, as many of us who attended universities can attest." He insisted that, during Hefelbower's tenure, Gettysburg had "a faculty of good teachers." Ibid., pp. 282-283. 45