s-book is kept by
each instructor, in which the character of each student's
recitation is noted by numbers, and all absences from college
exercises are minuted. Demerit for absences and other
irregularities is also marked in like manner, and made the basis
of discipline. At the close of each term, the average of these
marks is recorded, and, when desired, communicated to parents and
guardians." This book is called the _record of merit_.--_Cat.
Middlebury Coll._, 1850-51, p. 17.

RECTOR. The chief elective officer of some universities, as in
France and Scotland. The same title was formerly given to the
president of a college in New England, but it is not now in
use.--_Webster_.

The title of _Rector_ was given to the chief officer of Yale
College at the time of its foundation, and was continued until the
year 1745, when, by "An Act for the more full and complete
establishment of Yale College in New Haven," it was changed, among
other alterations, to that of _President_.--_Clap's Annals of Yale
College_, p. 47.

The chief officer of Harvard College at the time of its foundation
was styled _Master_ or _Professor_. Mr. Dunster was chosen the
first _President_, in 1640, and those who succeeded him bore this
title until the year 1686, when Mr. Joseph Dudley, having received
the commission of President of the Colony, changed for the sake of
distinction the title of _President of the College_ to that of
_Rector_. A few years after, the title of _President_ was resumed.
--_Peirce's Hist. of Harv. Univ._, p. 63.

REDEAT. Latin; literally, _he may return_. "It is the custom in
some colleges," says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, "on coming into
residence, to wait on the Dean, and sign your name in a book, kept
for that purpose, which is called signing your _Redeat_."--p. 92.

REFECTORY. At Oxford, Eng., the place where the members of each
college or hall dine. This word was originally applied to an
apartment in convents and monasteries, where a moderate repast was
taken.--_Brande_.

In Oxford there are nineteen colleges and five halls, containing
dwelling-rooms for the students, and a distinct _refectory_ or
dining-hall, library, and chapel to each college and hall.--_Oxf.
Guide_, 1847, p. xvi.

At Princeton College, this name is given to the hall where the
students eat together in common.--Abbreviated REFEC.

REGENT. In the English universities, the regents, or _regentes_,
are members of the university who have c