DR. E. E. JUST '07 RECEIVES MEDAL

At the annual meeting of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, held in Ethical Culture Hall in New York on February 12, Governor Whitman, in the presence of an audience of two thousand people, awarded the first Spingarn Medal to Dr. Ernest Everett Just. The Spingarn Medal, which is to be awarded annually to the man or woman of African descent and American citizenship who shall have made the highest achievement during the preceding year in any field of elevated or honorable human endeavor, given to Dr. Just for his work in physiology and in improving the standard of negro medical schools. Dr. Just, who was born in Charleston, S. C., received the degree of A.B. from Dartmouth in 1907 and is now head of the department of physiology in the Howard University Medical School at Washington.

In presenting this medal, Governor Whitman said in part: "In the gain or loss of one race, all the rest have equal claim. We are one group in New York. We have a common duty and a common destiny. The sacred privileges of American citizenship must be denied to no one. The spirit prompting the award of this medal is the spirit of brotherhood, fellowship, and Americanism."

In accepting the medal, Dr. Just replied: "I thank the Association for the award, not so much for myself as for the students whom I represent."

The New York Evening Post for February 13 comments editorially on this award as follows:

"The bestowal of the first Spingarn Medal . . . . . . upon Professor Ernest E. Just, a young scientist and professor in the Howard University Medical School, is certain to attract widespread attention. The committee, of which Mr. Taft is a member, did not find the choice an easy one, there being, a number of possibilities from whom to select. That the recipient should be a scientist rather than an inventor or a leader in farming or banking, will doubtless surprise many people, as it will put to their trumps those who continue to maintain that the negro is incapable of the higher education. Professor Just, be it noted, is but thirty-one years of age; yet he has already attracted the attention of scientists of repute, no less a one than Professor Jacques Loeb, endorsing his original work in physiology, biology, and zoology in these terms:

" 'His knowledge of biology and his critical ability are of an unusually high and lofty order. In the work that he devotes to Howard University he is actuated by very high motives since the remuneration he receives is only a fraction of his nominal salary. He could easily increase his income by giving up his position. Professor Just has sacrificed a good deal for the advancement of medical schools for colored people, and he will do a good deal more if he be given a chance, as I hope he may be.

"Plainly, this is just the type of man the Spingarn Medal ought to distinguish —a colored man who is proving the capability of the race, and is also ready to make sacrifices for the benefit of his people."