since the beginning of the century, American schools have been patronized by the leading men of the country. Among the students have been enrolled sons of the princes of the royal family, first and second cousins of former shahs, the only grandson of the present shah, sons of prime ministers and other cabinet ministers, of members of the mejlis (congress), of tribal chieftains, of provincial governors, and of other influential men from every corner of the land boys who, whether educated or not, would be in the future years among the rulers of Iran. Probably no other school in the world has ever enrolled so many of the children of the leading men of any country as for the past thirty-five years have been enrolled in this college [the Presbyterian mission college in Teheran, now called Alborz College]. Our students imbibed liberal ideas, they agitated for reforms, they cooperated with other forward-looking patriots in transforming the medieval despotism of thirty years ago into the modern, progressive democracy of today. 1
The same might be said of nearly every Christian college in Moslem lands. It most certainly applies to such well known institutions as the American University of Beirut; Robert College, Constantinople; the Forman Christian College, Lahore; Lucknow Christian College; St. John's College, Agra; the American University at Cairo, not to mention a host of others.
And one of the most important things that young men learn in these Christian colleges is how to cooperate, to pull together. As President Jordan puts it:
Iranian statesmen for years have mourned, "We Iranians do not know how to cooperate." But how do you teach
1 "Constructive Revolutions in Iran," by Samuel M. Jordan, in The Moslem World, October, 1935.
