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In 1846, the natural history lectures of [[Louis Agassiz]] were acclaimed both in New York and on his campus at Harvard College. Agassiz's approach was distinctly idealist and posited Americans' 'participation in the Divine Nature' and the possibility of understanding 'intellectual existences.' Agassiz's perspective on science combined observation with intuition and the assumption that one can grasp the 'divine plan' in all phenomena. When it came to explaining life-forms, Agassiz resorted to matters of shape based on a presumed archetype for his evidence. This dual view of knowledge was in concert with the teachings of [[Common Sense Realism]] derived from Scottish philosophers Thomas Reid and Dugald Stewart, whose works were part of the Harvard curriculum at the time. The popularity of Agassiz's efforts to 'soar with Plato' probably also derived from other writings to which Harvard students were exposed, including Platonic treatises by Ralph Cudworth, John Norris, and, in a Romantic vein, [[Samuel Coleridge]]. The library records at Harvard reveal that the writings of Plato and his early modern and Romantic followers were almost as regularly read during the 19th century as those of the 'official philosophy' of the more empirical and more deistic Scottish school.<ref>David K. Nartonis, "Louis Agassiz and the Platonist Story of Creation at Harvard, 1795-1846," ''Journal of the History of Ideas'' 2005 66(3): 437-449, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3654189 in JSTOR]</ref>
In 1846, the natural history lectures of [[Louis Agassiz]] were acclaimed both in New York and on his campus at Harvard College. Agassiz's approach was distinctly idealist and posited Americans' 'participation in the Divine Nature' and the possibility of understanding 'intellectual existences.' Agassiz's perspective on science combined observation with intuition and the assumption that one can grasp the 'divine plan' in all phenomena. When it came to explaining life-forms, Agassiz resorted to matters of shape based on a presumed archetype for his evidence. This dual view of knowledge was in concert with the teachings of [[Common Sense Realism]] derived from Scottish philosophers Thomas Reid and Dugald Stewart, whose works were part of the Harvard curriculum at the time. The popularity of Agassiz's efforts to 'soar with Plato' probably also derived from other writings to which Harvard students were exposed, including Platonic treatises by Ralph Cudworth, John Norris, and, in a Romantic vein, [[Samuel Coleridge]]. The library records at Harvard reveal that the writings of Plato and his early modern and Romantic followers were almost as regularly read during the 19th century as those of the 'official philosophy' of the more empirical and more deistic Scottish school.<ref>David K. Nartonis, "Louis Agassiz and the Platonist Story of Creation at Harvard, 1795-1846," ''Journal of the History of Ideas'' 2005 66(3): 437-449, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3654189 in JSTOR]</ref>
Charles W. Eliot, president 1869-1909, eliminated the favored position of Christianity from the curriculum while opening it to student self-direction. While Eliot was the most crucial figure in the secularization of American higher education, he was motivated not by a desire to secularize education, but by Transcendentalist Unitarian convictions. Derived from [[William Ellery Channing]] and [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], these convictions were focused on the dignity and worth of human nature, the right and ability of each person to perceive truth, and the indwelling God in each person.<ref>Stephen P. Shoemaker, "The Theological Roots of Charles W. Eliot's Educational Reforms," ''Journal of Unitarian Universalist History'' 2006-2007 31: 30-45, </ref>
Charles W. Eliot, president 1869-1909, eliminated the favored position of Christianity from the curriculum while opening it to student self-direction. While Eliot was the most crucial figure in the secularization of American higher education, he was motivated not by a desire to secularize education, but by Transcendentalist Unitarian convictions. Derived from [[William Ellery Channing]] and [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], these convictions were focused on the dignity and worth of human nature, the right and ability of each person to perceive truth, and the indwelling God in each person.<ref>Stephen P. Shoemaker, "The Theological Roots of Charles W. Eliot's Educational Reforms," ''Journal of Unitarian Universalist History'' 2006-2007 31: 30-45, </ref>
Football, originally organized by students as an extracurricular activity, was banned twice by the university for being a brutal and dangerous sport. However, by the 1880s, football became a dominant force at the college as the alumni became more involved in the sport. In 1882, the faculty formed a three-member athletic committee to oversee all intercollegiate athletics, but, due to increasing student and alumni pressure, the committee was expanded in 1885 to include three student and three alumni members. The alumni's role in the rise and commercialization of football, the leading moneymaker for athletics by the 1880s, was evident in the fundraising for the first steel-reinforced concrete stadium. The class of 1879 donated $100,000 - nearly one-third of the cost - to the construction of the 35,000-seat stadium, which was completed in 1903, with the remainder to be collected from future ticket sales.<ref>Ronald A. Smith, "Commercialized Intercollegiate Athletics and the 1903 Harvard Stadium," ''New England Quarterly'', Vol. 78, No. 1 (Mar., 2005), pp. 26-48 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1559707 in JSTOR]</ref>
==Expansion==
==Expansion==