Vou,::V:H.: Now. 20.
NEW HAVEN, CONN., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1898. —
Price Ten Cents.
A FRESHMAN SOCIETY,
Something Like The Wigwam
Needed in First Year.
To the Editor of YALE ALUMNI WEEKLY:
Sir:—Your excellent editorial on
“The Wigwam,” in the issue of the 3d
inst., gives occasion for the expression
of a thought which has been in my
mind for some time, as to the kernel of
truth in the criticisms lately made of
social conditions at Yale, especially
those relating to the Sophomore socie-
— ties.
Yale has always been distinguished
for its democracy. Equality of oppor-
tunity has been the rule there as com-
pletely as anywhere in the world; and
this, more than anything else, has given
to Yale life its charm and power..
There never has been and never will be
any intentional weakening of this rule.
But occasionally peculiar social develop-
ments, resulting from changing condi-
tions, may temporarily interfere with
its free play.
It is sometimes said that the influ-
ence of the Sophomore societies is bad;
and this, I think, means—in language ~
apt to the above text—that they inter-
fere with the rule of equality of oppor-
tunity. Under existing conditions this
seems to be true. Is the trouble in the
societies or in the conditions?
Membership in a Sophomore society,
because of the prominence it gives and
the association it occasions, undoubtedly
is an advantage with respect to other
social honors, and one which naturally
grows with the size of the classes, if the
society limitations remain the same.
To assert this, is not to criticise, but
merely to state a fact.
It is quite legitimate that one college
honor should increase the chances of
future honors. But an honor which is
to have this effect should be won in
open competition. If election to a
Sophomore society is such an honor, all
Freshmen should have an equal oppor-
tunity to compete for it. Under exist-
ing conditions, as it seems to me, this
equality of opportunity is not found.
The evil, however, seems to be the
natural result of the conditions. Elec-
tions to Sophomore societies depend
very largely upon pre-collegiate cir-
cumstances, especially upon reputation
at the larger schools and associations
formed in and through them. But can
this fact be made a charge against the
societies? Does it not result from the
fact that the life of Freshman year fails
to afford satisfactory tests and evidence
of character and ability?
Whether the Sophomore societies
should change their methods, is for the
members to decide. But evils resulting
from outside conditions may be avoided,
independently of their action, by chang-
ing the conditions. And as to them, I
make a single suggestion. Did not the
evil which exists find its way in because
of the abolition of the large Freshman
societies? What caused the abolition,
I do not know. Their sins, presum-
ably, were sufficient to demand their
destruction. Probably they should not
be revived. But is there not need of
something which shall supply what the
old Freshman societies did supply—
opportunity for all to show during
Freshman year what they are as men
among men, without regard to who
they are or whence they came; which
shall afford equality of opportunity in
this respect in the first year of the col-
lege course?
What the organizers of “The Wig-
wat” have done, is good in itself and
is evidence of appreciation of needs.
But in the line of your thought and
mind, organizations of like purpose, on
a somewhat broader basis, perhaps,
seem especially needed in Freshman
year.
Very truly yours,
Tuomas THACHER, (YALE, 771.)
New York, Feb. 7, 1808.
————_~+e4—__—.
Phi Beta Kappa Meetings.
At the regular meeting of the Phi
Beta Kappa Society, held on the even-
ing of February 2d, several marked
changes in the character of the Society’s
meetings were decided upon. Hereto-
fore the meetings have been held once
a month in some recitation or lecture
room and the chief interest of the meet-
ing has been in papers and addresses
by members of the Faculty.
after the meetings will be held every
two weeks and in the room of some
member of the Society. The members
of the Society will in turn read papers
on some interesting subject. This new
departure is expected to make the meet-
ings less formal than they have been
and to make them more of a social
gathering. The regular routine busi-
ness of the Society will be disposed of
at the beginning of the meeting and
then the members will be entertained as
shown above. The papers for the next
meeting will be read by H. B. Wright,
98, and Franklin Booth, ’608.
Sophomore Surveying.
A change in the scheme of mathe-
matical study of Sophomore year has
been made in the privilege of substi-
tuting surveying, course 260b of the
Catalogue for the work of the course of
Sophomore Mathematics. This priv-
ilege is extended to members of Pro-
fessor Richards’s division in mathe-
matics only. The course in surveying
is given by Professor Beebe and covers
the second half of the year. There are
five hours of work to count as three
hours, as follows: A recitation on Wed-
nesday morning of every week from
10.30 to 11.30, and field work from 2 to
3.50 on Tuesdays and Thursdays for
one division of ten men, and another
division will have field work on Mon-
days and Fridays from 2 to 3.50.
The field work consists of the ordi-
nary operations of land
leveling, and elementary topography;
the office work consists of plotting sur-
veys from field notes; determination of
areas from the map and by numerical
calculation; map-drawing, plane and
topographical, and examination of in-
strumental errors. The first recitation
in the new course was held last Wed-
nesday.
- we
~~ we
Gifts to the Library.
The University last week came into
possession of two valuable gifts of
manuscripts which have been placed in»
the Chittenden Library. One of these
is the original manuscript of the notes
and sermons of Reverend Timothy
Edwards, a celebrated theologian and
father of Jonathan Edwards, afterwards
President of Princeton University. It
is dated, 1719. Mr. Charles Gormly of
Pittsburg, Pa., whose brother, Edwin
C. Gormly, was a graduate of Yale in
the Class of Sixty-Six, is the donor of
this gift.
The second gift is a copy of the
Ulster County Gazette of January 4,
1800, containing an account of the
opening of the Congress of 1800, and
the first address of President John
Adams. This comes to Yale through
Mrs. Henry Barnes of New Haven.
Here-.
surveying,
DEGREES AT MID-YEAR.
President Eliot Advocates Them in
His Annual Report. .
[Correspondence of YALE ALUMNI WEEKLY ]
Cambridge, Feb. 9.—The annual re-
port of President Eliot, which appeared
during the week, is characteristic of the
author. These reports are attracting
more attention each year because the
ability of President Eliot to carry for-
ward his plans to ultimate realization
becomes each year more apparent. He
dominates the governing boards of the
University, the committees and the Fac-
ulty. When his measures are voted
down he doggedly brings them forward
again until he exhausts the opposition.
He won the fight for the elective sys-
tem in this way and recently the en-
largement of the suffrage in the election
of Overseers. So his annual reports
come to be regarded as forecasts of the
future policy of the University. Like
an expert at chess, he looks ahead and
announces moves in advance.
In the current report, the most radi-
cal feature is the proposal to conifer
degrees twice. a year. -Such a step,
when viewed from Yale standpoints,
encounters immediately the objection
that it threatens the solidarity of the
College life by intruding upon the or-
ganization in classes. But here at Har-
vard it is a natural step in pursuance
of the policy to which the College is
committed. The elective system has al-
ready invaded the class organization
and deprived it of much of its charm.
The proposal of President Eliot, al-
though it comes as an innovation, to
supersede an established custom of
more than two hundred and fifty years,
is likely to receive the favorable con-
sideration of the Corporation.
In advocacy of the change the Pre-
sident says: “The English and German
universities count residence by one
term or semester, and confer degrees
several times during the year; and in
this country the University of Chicago
has set an example of conferring de-
grees four times a year. It has been the
practice of Harvard from its founda-
tion to confer degrees only once a year
—a very natural practice so long as
residence was counted only by the year,
and a specified length of residence was
the most important qualification for the
degree. But now that the passing of
examinations on a definite number of
courses or half-courses of instruction
has become the most important qualifi-
cation for a degree, some reasons come
into view for conferring degrees twice
a year.
“The requirement for the degree of
Bachelor of Arts being to pass the ex-
aminations in eighteen full courses of
study, persons who have passed in
sixteen courses within three years have
before them but a scant half-year’s work;
yet they must wait a whole year to
get the degree. Again, short-resi-
dence students who seek a degree
from Harvard may easily find one year
too short to accomplish their purposes,
and yet two years may be too long.
When students in college suffer some
prolonged illness, which makes it. im-
possible for them to pursue their
studies for three or four months, they
generally have to spend an extra year
in attaining their degree, although the
real loss of time was only half a year.
“When a young man has failed to ob-
tain his degree in four years through
some neglect of duty, or through mis-
fortune, he is now obliged to wait for
his degree until the end of a fifth year,
although his deficiencies may amount
to much less than a year’s work. In
all these cases there would be great ad-
vantage in a second date for conferring
degrees, a date not far removed from
the tenth of February.” ,
It will be seen that this move on the
part of the President aims at the pre-
sent four-year term required for a de-
gree. Already the four years course
is shortened for those students entering
the Law and Medical departments by
allowing them to enter the professional
schools after three yéars in the College
if a certain amount of work has been
performed, such students, however, re-
ceiving their college degrees only
after four years from their matricula-
tion has expired. The President now
proposes to allow students completing
the required eighteen courses to ob-
tain the degree in three and a half years.
This point gained, it will be but a short
and easy step to a three years’ course
for all who can complete the required
work in the time. |
TO UNITE HARVARD AND M. I. T.
Of equal interest, perhaps, to Col-
lege men is the progress of recent
negotiations looking to a union of
Harvard and the Massachusetts Insti-
tute of Technology. The President re-
ports that “on the 12th of April, 1897,
the President and Fellows invited the
government of the Massachusetts In-
stitute of Technology to consider
whether some plan could. not be de-
vised for a useful alliance between the
several schools of applied science in
Boston and Cambridge. The govern-
ment of the institute having indicated
their willingness to confer with the Pre-
sident and Fellows on this subject,
committees of conference were ap-
pointed by the two institutions, and
proceeded to make a thorough examina-
tion of the subject. At the meeting of
the President and Fellows on June 21,
the committee to confer with the com-
mittee of the Institute having made a
preliminary report, it was voted ‘that
this board is willing to modify or limit
the present scheme of instruction in
technical subjects at Cambridge if the
Corporation of the Institute is willing
to consent to some satisfactory plan for
the ultimate union of the two institu-
tions.’ At the close of the academical
year no conclusion had been reached.”
SECONDARY SCHOOLS ELECTIVES.
In view of the increased attention
that is. being paid to instruction in
secondary schools by college authorities,
particularly to the end that uniform
admission requirements may be -agreed
upon, the remarks of President Eliot
oin the subject of extending the elec-
tive system in the schools are signifi-
cant. His attitude that no particular
studies should be required for admis-
sion to college, provided only there
has been a sound training of some sort,
is strange doctrine. If students are to
be admitted to colleges without any
knowledge of Greek and Latin, there
will be further protest from the friends
of classical education. Dr. Eliot says
in this connection:
“Harvard College has long repre-
sented the principle of election of col-
lege studies, and has found nothing but
advantage in the free publication of that
principle. It is natural that the college
should seek to further the adoption of
the same principle in secondary educa-
tion and in requirements for admission
to college.
“At the same time Harvard College
has no desire to make its own terms of
admission lower or easier. Its effort
has always been in quite the opposite
direction. In its past efforts to raise
the standard of admission requirements
[Continued on 5th page.]