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About Yale Alumni Magazine | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 1898)
TATE <ATSUIMNI SRrrmkKLy NEWS FROM HARVARD. New Movement to Unite the Gradu- ates in Support of Athletics. [Correspondence of YALE ALUMNI WEEKLY.] Cambridge, Jan. 10.—After a holiday recess of rather brief duration, the Uni- versity entered upon the Winter term last Monday. The six weeks following the Christmas vacation are always the busiest of the year at Harvard. The ap- proach of the mid-year examinations and the absence of athletic distractions offer incentive and opportunity for hard work in the curriculum. For this limited period the wheels of the great intellectual factory fairly hum with in- dustry. Everything is run at forced draft and the men work long hours to meet the unusual demands ‘of the mid- year period. GRADUATE INTEREST. But, while the undergraduates are busied in scholarly pursuits, a move- ment has developed among the alumni, looking to the organization of the graduate body in the interests of uni- versity athletics. The movement had its inception a month ago in a meeting of prominent graduates to consider ways and means for concentrating the graduate interest in athletics, unifying graduate opinion, and effecting greater permanency in Harvard’s athletic pol- icy. During the past week a circular letter has been sent out to all living graduates of the University, whose ad- dresses are known, explaining the pur- pose of the movement and the scheme of organization. This letter, which is reprinted in full in another column of the WEEKLY, shows the function of the proposed organization in regard to the conduct of university sports, to be merely advisory. Among the graduates it is to serve as an information bureau and supply the machinery for collect- ing funds in support of athletic enter- prises. ; THE PLAN’S PRACTICAL VALUE. The practical value of the proposed association remains to be demonstrated. Its usefulness depends entirely upon the existence of genuine and wide-spread desire on the part of the alumni to give , attention to the athletic interests of the University. If there is indifference on the part of the graduates, no amount of machinery will alter this condition. The insertion of another cogwheel in the already complicated mechanism of “athletic Harvard” will then tend only to render its working more involved with the chance of added friction. When the Athletic Committee was organized here, it was asserted by its advocates that it furnished a remedy for the evils which up to that time had negatived all efforts to manage and con- trol University athletics. The scheme of the Harvard Committee has been imitated at other universities in one or two instances. To what extend has its working verified the claims made for it? An editorial in the Harvard Crim- son of last Thursday, supporting the proposed Graduate Organization, is sig- nificant in this connection. The editor writes: “The great weakness of Harvard athletics, a -weakness which extends through every department of sport, and indeed through the whole of the less serious side of the University life, is an utter lack of permanent organization. The policy of the Faculty and the other University officials is to leave the regu- lations of athletics and of social ques- tions so far as possible to the under- graduates themselves. The Athletic Committee’s function is not to guide and develop, but to restrain. Its work is in a sense purely negative. In many respects this policy of non-interference is wise, but it has a distinct disadvan- tage, for it makes a permanent policy an utter impossibility.” This, if true, is a startling confession. The stock argument in favor of the Har- vard system has been that it gave per- manency to the athletic policy. The Athletic Committee was, in effect, a court of highest resort, with provision for the filling of all vacancies which might occur. Men might come and men might go, but this Committee went on forever. Matters of detail were left to the various teams and coaches; matters which affected. the general athletic policy of the Univer- sity were controlled by the Committee. Now we are told that the great weak- ness of Harvard athletics is an utter lack of permanent organization, and that the Committee’s policy of non-in- terference makes a permanent policy an utter impossibility. It is difficult to see how a graduate organization, acting only in an advisory capacity, is to suc- ceed in accomplishing this desired re- sult where a permanent Athletic Com- mittee with unlimited powers has failed. PROBLEM NOT SOLVED. The failure of the Athletic Commit- tee to solve the problem of managing University athletics lies in quite another direction. That it has, to a degree at least, given permanency and de- finiteness to the athletic policy of the University, can hardly be denied by one who carefully considers the course of Harvard in the different branches of intercollegiate sport during recent years. The present movement to effect an organization of the alumni indicates the direction in which the Committee has failed. The nine members are chosen in equal proportions from the undergraduates, the alumni, and the Faculty. Theoretically it is an ideal board. But, so far as representing the three constituencies from which the members are chosen in concerned, it has been an emphatic failure. The three members of the Faculty have in a sense represented their body, be- cause on matters athletic, the majority of the Faculty take little or no individ- ual interest and acquiesce in the opin- ions of the committee members: Yet, in one notable instance, when the Fa- culty voted to abolish football, the Faculty members of the stood squarely for a continuance of the game in opposition to their constitu- ents. That the members of the undergradute body have in any real sense represented their contituency is not compatable with the conditions which exist at Cambridge. The lack of cohesion be- tween individuals or groups here ,at Harvard makes it difficult to feel the pulse of the body politic. But the voice of the students is not sought. These three representatives of the undergradu- -ates are not even chosen by those whom they represent. They are ap- pointed to membership on the Com- mittee. Of late, steps have been taken to increase the student representation on the Committee. An equal difficulty is encountered in the case of the gradute members of the Committee. They, too, are appointed, and their scattered constituency has no voice in their selection. It the Com- mittee acts without consulting the body of graduates, there is no recourse but to protest. the consensus of graduate opinion found expression in the Committee, ‘there would be little occasion for the proposed organization. The movement for organization speaks the inadequacy of the present order of things. Under the system which now obtains it is natural that the Faculty members should dominate the Committee. If the proposed organization of graduates is consummated, it will be interesting to note the results. It is difficult to see how the graduates will gain by the in- creased opportunity to express their opinions if the Athletic Committee does not see fit to act in accordance with such advisory suggestions. J. WESTON ALLEN. <td. Se: Cab Track Athletics at Brown. The Board of Directors of the Brown University Athletic Association has voted to discontinue the track athletic team this year unless a sum equal to unpaid subscriptions to the Association is paid on or: before Jan. 25. The directors thought it best to contract no debts until the way to pay them. is clearly seen. If a team is organized John F. Moakley, official handicapper of the New England Association of the Amateur Athletic Union, will probably be engaged as coach. The candidates for the Brown base- ball team will meet on Wednesday. Fred Tenney, first baseman of the Bos- ton nine of the National League, and a graduate of Brown, will instruct the members of the team. Committee — If under the existing system — - Success. CORNELL'S REPLY COMING. Believed She Wishes to Name the Conditions for 1899. [By telegraph to ‘The WEEKLY.] Ithaca, N. Y., Jan. 12.—The Athletic Council reached a decision Monday night and sent communications em- bodying this decision to Yale, Colum- bia, Pennsylvania and Harvard. Not- hing regarding the contents of the com- munication, however will be, officially given out until these communications have reached their destinations. The general impression here is, however, that Cornell replied to Yale saying something like this: ‘‘We will accept your invitation to join the Yale-Har- vard race to be rowed over the New London course on date named, but in doing this it is understood that inas- much as Yale named all the conditions for this year’s race, Cornell shall be allowed to name the conditions for next year’s race.” In other words Cornell does not ask for an agreement, but merely an understanding like that be- tween Yale and Princeton. The ques- tion whether the race be rowed is, if this version be true, left to Yale. lf Yale consents Cornell will row her other triangular race with Columbia and Pennsylvania at New London. If Yale refuses to row with this under- standing as to next year’s race, it is believed that Cornell will arrange for an open regatta probably the Pough- keepsie course. Later. The above report was confirmed by the arrival at noon of the official reply It states that ~“Cor- nell accepts the proposition of Yale for from Cornell. a triangular race at New London pro- vided Cornell be allowed to name the place and time of a similar race for next year.” It is not possible to say what ~Yale’s answer will be, but it will ‘be made at once. ——+e—_______ Hockey Team Beaten. The most important game of the Yale Hockey Team during the holi- days was that with the St. Nicholas Skating Club at the St. Nicholas rink, New York, on Saturday. night, Jan. 8. The Yale. team, though playing -a strong, fast game, was beaten by the score of 6 to I. Yale started the game with a snap _ that surprised the St. Nicholas players for a few minutes. Barnett captured the puck in the face-off and passed to Cox, who dribbled the rubber as far as Wrenn. The latter lifted it to Hall, who, in turn, started down the ice with the speed of an express train. His shot for goal was blocked by Robb, who carried the puck half way back and passed it to Wrenn, who drove it between the flags for the first goal. Yale again won the puck on the face- off, but quickly lost it to Barron, who repeatedly tried for goal. Collender also tried several times with no better After fourteen minutes of fast play Larned shot the second goal for St. Nicholas, on a pass by Barrom The former repeated the feat, without assistance, one mintte after the rubber was again put in play. The score at the end of the half was 3 to o in favor of the home players. At this point Hall captured the puck and made a brilliant run the entire length of the rink. His shot for goal, however, was stopped by Hewitt. Yale now worked desperately, and with barely two minutes more to play Cox saved his team from a “‘white- washing” on a pass by Stoddard. The team also met defeat the previous night at the hands of the Skating Club of Brooklyn, before a crowd of 1200 people, at the Clermont Avenue rink in Brooklyn. /Yale’s only goal was made by Hall, who captured the puck in the second half in front of Yale’s goal and with splendid protection and judgment dribbled close to the Brook- lyn goal. Here, although the tender point and coverpoint were guarding, he shot the rubber between the flags. The referee was George Sheldon, Yale, 1900. ALREADY A STRONG TRADITION Yale is a place full of tradition. va- ditions not only govern the conduct of Freshmen, the relation of classes and the status of institutions, but also the business dealings of the new comer. They direct him where to go for the necessaries and the lux- uries of life. Some of these traditions become strongly intrenched in a few years, and there is generally a very good reason for it. We think if you will communicate with our store by a personal call or by correspondence, you will see why the tradition has become so strong in a few years among Yale men to get their fur- nishings of CHASE & 10., NEW HAVEN HOUSE BLOCK. FRANK A. CORBIN, i a oe? TO THE STUDENTS OF YALE AND TO THE GRADUATES in all parts of the country. Address: 1000 Chapel Street, New Haven, Conn. ‘‘Wiedical Journal” Contents. - The contents of the January number of the Vale Medical Journal, beside the usual medical society reports, alumni news and editorials, are: On the Parasites of Malarial Fever, William Sydney Thayer, M.D.; Fash- ions in Gynecology, Henry J. Garri- gues, A.M., M.D.; Ophthalmic Clini- cal Notes, David Webster, M.D.; Koch’s New Tuberculin, Edward: R. Baldwin, ’90 M.S., M.D. [T FITS, AND ITS A KNOX THAT COVERS THE CASE. Full-grown Men ogy eS eee THE SUN.
