Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to Thomas Esty, Amherst College, June 20, 1923

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Title

Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to Thomas Esty, Amherst College, June 20, 1923

Subject

Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to Thomas Esty, Amherst College, June 20, 1923

Transcription

June 20, 1923.
Dean Thomas C. Esty,
Amherst College, Amherst, Mass.

Dear Tommy:

May I have a word with you, and then a word from you in regard to one Kuo Fang Tsai, one of our Chinese boys who hopes to enter Amherst in the fall? The situation is this.

Tsai passed for Harvard last fall, and after some pretty stiff summer tutoring, Elementary Algebra , two years of French, and two years of German. He was with us early this year but dropped out, chiefly because his health made it impossible for him to keep up with the work. He finished out the year up at Mt. Vernon with my brother and, according to his statement, is entitled to College Entrance Certificate from that school in three years of English and third year French. This will give him a good start towards admission.

Will the boy be allowed to substitute Chinese for Latin, something that has been done by many Institutions and for many of these easterners in times past? According to Tsai I believe you have done it at Amherst for some of them. If this can be done the boy will have left, as I understand it, only History and one Mathematics or Physics to make up to gain full admission. I think he will cover these during the summer as he has had Mathematics, at least, and I think some History.

The boy is my personal ward while here in America, as his two brothers were before him, and I am very anxious to advise him wisely as to the plan he should adopt for the summer. He tutored at Long Lake Lodge last summer and will probably go there again if he has a chance of getting into Amherst in September. I believe he ought to go to college this fall if he can possibly do so. He has pretty good ability, but has been handicapped for some years by rather poor health I believe, though, that he is outgrowing this, and a very careful examination to which I had him subjected by Dr. Pratt in Boston reveals no chronic weakness.

It should be added that Tsai is an extremely popular fellow with his mates. He was captain of our Soccer Team, and is one of only two or three of the many Chinese boys who have been here to be taken into a local Society.

Awaiting your reply, which I hope can be counted on in the near future, and, with best wishes to all the Esty family for a restful and happy summer, believe me ever,

Faithfully yours,

Creator

Alfred E. Stearns

Publisher

Phillips Academy

Date

June 20, 1923

Rights

All Rights Reserved By Phillips Academy

Language

English

Type

Correspondence

Collection

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