Harper's University The beginnings Author:Richard J Storr Neither the academic promise of the University of Chicago nor its financial history could be separated from the nature of Harper's genius. His qualities could have led the university to greatness or ruin. Had Harper been a cautious administrator, the University might not have had a brilliant beginning in which to cement the loyalties of its su... more »pporters; and had its principal supporters been Philistines, the University might not have survived without losing its distinctiveness. The founding would now be thought merely a curious aberration in the history of a good, sound college that once tried, unwisely, to become a university.« less