ATTAINMENT IN ORGANIZING AND LEADING 35
 old system with seven institutions was not always wisely ad-
 ministered, and that there was too much legislative "trading"
 in the system, must have reconciled him to the change.
 Many interesting commentaries as to why the new system
 provided for a separation of the young men and the young
 women students can be found from that day. The debate in
 the legislature on the matter attracted wide attention, but in
 the voting on the question, the provision to separate the schools
 carried heavily. It is known that Dr. Murphree favored this
 plan.
 At this time, Albert Alexander Murphree, a young man of
 thirty-five, found himself at one of those "forks in the road"
 that frequently occur in active lives, which determine their
 destiny. He had been urged by his father-in-law repeatedly
 to abandon teaching for the profession of law. The trustees
 of the new college for women had almost as a matter of course
 offered him the position of president, with no thoughts of any-
 one else. Dr. Murphree realized that if he was to make a
 change in his life plans it would have to be made then. He
 pondered the matter carefully for some time and then to one
 of his closest friends he confided:
 "I have reached my decision never to turn my back on
 the profession I have chosen. I might make a success at the
 law, but I love teaching and educational administration. I
 believe I will be happiest at it. I shall accept the position as
 president of the Women's College."
 At the meeting of the Board of Control at which Dr. Mur-
phree accepted the position, he insisted that his friend Profes-
sor Buchholz, who had decided to accept the position as head
of the Teachers' College at the new university, and was prepar-
ing to depart for Lake City, be retained at Tallahassee. Pro-
fessor Buchholz agreed to do so, and remained at the college
until 1908, when he went back to Hillsboro county to reorgan-
ize the public school system there. Five years later found
him back with his old friend in Gainesville at the University
of Florida.
 "Dr. Murphree showed great adaptability in reorganizing
his educational scheme to fit the educational needs of the col-
lege of young women," Dr. Buchholz relates. "The same fine