The late Colonel E. W. Cole of Nashville, Tennessee, donated to
Vanderbilt University the sum of five thousand dollars, afterwards
increased by Mrs. E. W. Cole to ten thousand, the design and conditions
of which gift are stated as follows:
"The Object of this fund is to establish a foundation for a perpetual
Lectureship in connection with the School of Religion of the
University, to be restricted in its scope to a defense and advocacy of
the Christian religion. The lectures shall be delivered at such
intervals, from time to time, as shall be deemed best by the Board of
Trust; and the particular theme and lecturer will be determined by the
Theological Faculty. Said lecture shall always be reduced to writing
in full, and the manuscript of the same shall be the property of the
University, to be published or disposed of by the Board of Trust at its
discretion, the net proceeds arising therefrom to be added to the
foundation fund, or otherwise used for the benefit of the School of
Religion."