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About Yale Alumni Magazine | View Entire Issue (March 22, 1899)
92.4 YALE ALUMNI WHEKLY THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION, One Great Change in the Character of the Head—Other Points. IT. An eminent Oxford professor re- cently visited and lectured at the lead- ing American universities. His visits were not hurried, and he had every pos- sible opportunity for becoming ac- quainted with our university faculties and their work. In the Nineteenth Cen- tury for January, Professor Gardner gives at some length his Impressions of American Universities. It is always profitable, if not always pleasant, to see ourselves as others see us. It is often surprising. Perhaps nothing is more surprising, as coming from an English professor, than the following observations of Pro- fessor Gardner: “Oxford and Cam- bridge are, perhaps, the most complete democracies in existence. The Con- gregation at Oxford, and the Senate at Cambridge, comprising all the resident teachers, have a power which is almost unlimited in matters of finance, of or- ganization, and of ordinance. . . In America the power is less evenly divided. And the President is often the real repository of power in the organization. It is the’ most marked feature of American life, whether political, commercial, or edu- cational, that power in every institution seems to gravitate into the hands of one man.” Yale has certainly been such a mon- archy. Its presidents have been prophet, priest and king in one, after the order of Melchizedek. And it is a glor- ious line, of which all Yale men are devoutly proud. But the royal prerog- ative will probably depart from the next President of Yale, as was shown in the preceding paper. His adminis- tration must: be democratic, after the English fashion. Another prerogative will also be wanting, unless the election defeats the expectation even of Cor- poration members. The next President of Yale will probably not be a clergy- man. He will not be the head of the “Church of Christ in Yale College.” He will not officiate as Priest at the great religious functions of the Uni- versity,—probably not even at. ‘“Morn- ing Prayers.” That simple and naked function, so crude, so incongruous, often so abused, but after all so inexpressibly dear to the Yale graduate’s heart, be- cause Yale men have so few supports for the ritualistic impulse which is dormant in them all, and which is of the very essence of long historical tradition,—the Seniors’ bow to the President, will probably be abandoned. The priestly prerogative is almost es- sential for its continuance. Other priestly functions will be missed in the next President, unless some candidate acceptable to Corporation and alumni shall consent, as President Woolsey did, to be invested with the priestly dignity ex-of ficio. But if the next President cannot be king and priest, he can still be prophet, and that is an august domain. To fore- see the numberfess ways in which this great institution of learning, while be- ing, as all such institutions must be, in some degree a reflex of its social and civil environment, shall. also lead the men of the new epoch, now dawning upon Americans, to the best possible performance of the largest tasks; to provide duly, with forces already in hand, for the proper training of minds which must cope with the large prob- lems of diplomacy. and international commerce now looming up before this people, or, in case forces now in hand are insufficient, to secure fresh forces for the needful answer to any demand now to be made by the country upon its higher institutions of culture and train-« ing; to help Yale to represent and at the same time to guide the new era,—this is task for a prophet, and the single func- tion is enough. If not Melchizedek. at least Haggai, and “the glory of this lat- ter house shall be greater than of the former.” : KNOX Spring Hats are Out. tions. YALE MUST LEARN FROM OTHERS. It would be a great mistake for the new administration to break violently with the past. And yet Yale would do well to look less askance upon the suc- cessful achievements of sister institu- Many of the vexing problems which now confront her have been solved, in one way or another, by Har- vard, Cornell, Columbia, and other great wumiversities. Yale must profit positively by the great successes of her noble rivals, as well as negatively by their mistakes. Yale in turn must risk more mistakes, in order that her experience may be more positively profitable to her rivals, and that she may bear her fair share in the expenses of progress. For progress must always be at the expense of mis- takes. Noblesse oblige. Better mistakes with progress than the even tenor of a way to the dry rot,—the greatest pos- sible mistake. Yale’s undergraduate body has long been in close touch with other great undergraduate bodies. It has learned more lessons from and given more lessons to them, than Yale’s faculty, as an educational body, has been willing to learn from or able to teach to other great faculties. And both undergraduates, Faculty and alumni of Yale are much too com- placent and self-satisfied. Loyalty is fine. But blind loyalty is mediaeval. It breaks out into manifestations of ridiculous partisanship. : RIVALRY IN NUMBERS. And now the delicate topic of the rivalry between our great universities has been touched, and must be still further handled. Rivalry there is and must be, and even the lower form of rivalry in numbers of students. This is the fierce temptation that assails every university administration. In- crease in students brings increase in revenue,—or should bring it, unless the eleemosynary evil spreads. Of this evil more must be said later. For good or for evil, the community is apt to gauge the success of a uni- versity by the number of its students. An administration craves this form of success. It ts human nature that it should. The administration will, there- fore, more naturally favor making the university privileges easy of access and retention. Unless the greatest care is exercised this will be done at the ex- pense of high standards of scholarship and training. It is more apt to be done under a highly personal administration than it can be under a faculty admin- istration, where the scholarly pride of departments and instructors is enlisted in favor of high standards, with high- toned disregard of incomes and deficits. But no administration, personal or fac- ulty, can utterly ignore the sources of its revenue. If it cannot make univer- sity privileges easy of access and reten- tion, it must make those privileges so alluring by reason of subjects taught or methods of teaching, that wise men will conquer every. difficulty in order to secure them, and it will not put un- necessary difficulties in their way. The most alluring method of teaching, however, is by no means always the best. To the majority of our students, from youth up, the most alluring method is that which shifts the burden as much as possible from their own to the teachers’ shoulders. Election of subject and the lecture method of instruction are pas- sing down from our higher university courses, where they properly belong, into our secondary and = grammar schools, where they take pupils already enervated mentally by excessive kinder- gartenism and waft them pleasantly and without serious mental effort up to the gates of university privilege and over the slender barriers there set to en- trance. YALE'S RESOURCE. It may be Yale’s mission to oppose this tendency, and to insist ion a more restricted elective privilege in the lower years, and on the old-fashioned labori- ous acquisition of knowledge by the pupil. But if she feels called upon to make her university privileges difficult of ac- cess by reason of the severer require- ments and methods of teaching of her two lower years, she should certainly make those privileges more and more alluring by reason of subjects taught and the liberal methods of instruction which are here perfectly in‘place. The Elective courses of Junior and Senior years must be made fully elective, and much richer and more varied than now. But why should the path to them be. unnecessarily narrow? Why _ should there not be more than one path to them? Why should there not be two or more courses of required work, either one of which shall lead after two years to the fullest elective privileges of Junior and Senior years, and to the A.B. degree? As it is, the access to Yale’s rich elective and university courses is barred by the stern require- ment of two ancient languages. Grant- ing all that Judge Hoar claims for the classics, in his recent letter to the Jn- dependent, many men will crave univer- sity training who do not look forward to public life, and do not wish to study Greek. Yale owes it to them and to herself to remove all unnecessary ob- stacles in the way of their full enjoy- ment of university privilege. Yale might even offer as many as four col- legiate courses of required work for two years. These required groups of studies might cluster around (a) an an- cient language; (b) a modern lan- guage; (c) mathematics; (d) a natural science. The barrier of the dead lan- guages would thus be removed, and more intimate connection made with the great public school system. Two, or possibly three of these required groups could be offered by the Aca- demic Department as now constituted. Four could easily be offered with such a union of Yale College with Sheffield School as was suggested in the previ- ous paper. / But whatever rivalry exists between Yale and her great sister institutions, it should not preclude mutual affection, and cordial comparison of means and ends, all laboring together, though on slightly differing lines, for the upbuild- ing of American manhood and woman- hood. “By their fruits,” not by their numbers, “ye shall know them.” ~ A. 33; Fresaman Baseball. The members of the Freshman base- ball squad, which has just been reduced to about twenty-seven, are still working in the cage, and will probably not be taken to the field until about Easter. At that time a temporary captain will be appointed. -It is impossible yet to form a very accurate estimate of the strength of the team, but from present indications, it will not be above the average. ‘The Class is well represented on the University squad, which includes seven Freshmen. B.C... Chamberlin, .P.G.,.:. who 1s coaching the squad, is paying especial attention to the form of the players. No work in batting has been done yet, and the practice has consisted in stop- ping grounders and throwing to first base. ~ The first game of the season comes on April'5th and will be, as usual, with the Hopkins Grammar School. > =~ “= > S23 2 Cruiser Yale’s Guns and Colors. The naval appropriation bill for the current fiscal year which passed the Senate on March 1, bore this clause, which officially turns the guns and colors over to the University until they are needed again by the United States: “The Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorized to transfer to the officers of Yale University the custody of the two Maxim rapid-fire guns with their mounts and the stand of colors, pre- sented by its students and graduates to the United States at the opening of the war with Spain for use upon the auxili- ary cruiser ‘Yale,’ to be retained until said guns may be required for use by the Government.” Shirts IN COLORS. The sooner one chooses his colored shirts for the season, the better pleased he will be. We have just received seven hundred and fifty different designs in Madras, Cheviot, Oxford and the com- bination Silk-and-Linen. We will have the pure silk ones in a few days. Many graduates send to us from all over the country. We can send you samples and mak you shirts wherever you are. CHASE & CO, New Haven House Block. FRANK A. CORBIN, TAILOR TO THE SIUDENIS.UFT YALE AND TO THE GRADUATES in all parts of the country Address : 1000 Chapel Street, New Haven. Conn. Scientific School Inventor. Joseph Goodyear Wild, a member of the Freshman class in the Yale Scien- tific School and son of I. J. Wild, Yale "67, Treasurer of the New Haven Gas Light Co., has invented and recently put on the market a telescopic mega- phone for use on yachts and coaches. In the accompanying cuts the instru- ment is shown at its full length and also folded, in which latter position it can be stored in a small space when room is needed. There has already been a gratifying recognition of its good quali- ties. a The Law School will again Grsanize ~a baseball team this Spring, and candi- dates for it have already begun prac- tising at the Field. A game with the Harvard Law School may be played.
