This law was general in its terms, requiring, under heavy penalty, the separation of the white and colored races in all schools of the State, private as well as public. But at the time of the consideration of the bill, the legislators probably knew that there was only one school in the State which admitted both white and colored students. That was Berea College, which had been established about fifty years before for the purpose of “promoting the cause of Christ” and of giving general and nonsectarian instruction to “all youth of good moral character.” It was primarily for the benefit of the mountain whites of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and the Carolinas. After the Civil War, the doors of the school had been opened to Negroes, and in 1904, Berea had a student-body of nine hundred and twenty-seven, of whom one hundred and seventy-four were Negroes.[336] The President and Trustees of the college protested against the enactment of the above law, but to no avail. When the session of 1904–5 began, the colored students were refused admission. The college at once took steps to aid these Negro youths. It bore the transportation expenses of about a hundred of them to Fisk University, Knoxville College, Hampton Institute, and other distinctly colored schools. The white students left behind gave to the colored students leaving Berea the following expression of their regard for them: “Friends and Fellow-Students: As we meet for the first time under new conditions to enjoy the great privileges of Berea College, we think at once of you who are now deprived of these privileges. Our sense of justice shows us that others have the same rights as ourselves, and the teaching of Christ leads us to ‘remember them that are in bonds as bound with them.’ “We realize that you are excluded from the class rooms of Berea College, which we so highly prize, by no fault of your own, and that this hardship is a part of a long line of deprivations under which you live. Because you were born in a race long oppressed and largely untaught and undeveloped, heartless people feel more free to do you wrong, and thoughtless people meet your attempts at self-improvement with indifference or scorn. Even good people sometimes fear to recognize your worth, or take your part in a neighborly way because of the violences and prejudices around us. “We are glad that we have known you, or known about you, and that we know you are rising above all discouragements, and showing a capacity and a character that give promise for your people.... And you will always have our friendship, and the friendship of the best people throughout the world. We hope never to be afraid or ashamed to show our approval of any colored person who has the character and worth of most of the colored students of Berea. We are glad that the college is providing funds to assist you in continuing your education, and we are sure the institution will find ways in which to do its full duty by the colored race.”[337]