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About Yale Alumni Magazine | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 1900)
Vou. IX. No. 20. LONG ISLAND YALE MEN, An Ovation to the President and in- formation from Him- Choice Greetings from Harvard. The annual dinner. of the Long Island Alumni Association, at the Ox- ford Club in Brooklyn on ‘Tuesday evening, February 6th, was a very char- acteristic Yale success. was to a large extent an ovation to President Hadley, who made his first oficial appearance before the Long Island alumni. Harvard was repre- sented by Charies* C: Beaman ‘ and Princeton by Jesse Lynch Williams, both of whom were received with en- thusiastic cordiality. Other guests of honor, seated at a table overhung by an immense Yale flag, were Horace D. Taft, 83; Supreme Court Justice, Fred- eric A. Ward, ‘62; Thomas Thacher, ‘71, and John K.-Creevey,-’66.' Joseph A. Bar Je Tresident “or ‘tire: Long Island Association, presided. F The first speaker of the evening was President Hadley,’ to whom and to whose predecessor Mr. Burr, in his introductory remarks, paid a_ high tribute which was_ received’ with marked approbation of all present. President Hadley, in his response, re- ferred to the Brooklyn alumni as a gathering of typical Yale men. It was from such a class of college men, he said, that the University and the cause of modern education, drew in- spiration and hope for the _ future. He had just returned from an extended western tour, during which he had at- tended a large number of Yale gather- ings and the thing that had impressed him most was the fine quality of men— Yale men—whom.it had been his privi- lege to megt.. It was the best evidence of what fiad been done by Yale, and of what she was likely to do hereafter. It was interesting and encouraging to note, continued the speaker, that al- though there were plenty of universi- ties west of the Alleghanies that en- rolled 4,000 men and more, Yale, with its 2,000, still managed to hold its own, chiefly because of. the high character and sterling achievements of its grad- uates. A COMPARISON WITH THE LINCOLN AD- MINISTRATION. “The constituency of Yale,’ said the speaker, “is national, not local. I have sometimes heard Yale compared to-the presidential administration of Abraham Lincoln, and I think it is a comparison that Yale men can afford to accept. Now, what were the characteristics of Lincoln’s administration? It was surely not infallible; it made many mistakes, military and financial, which the critics of the present day have little difficulty in pointing out... But if Lincoln had taken the advice of these same critics in the dark days of the war, it is quite certain that the war would never have been finished. The chief credit of Lin- coln’s administration, I think, is that it went just as fast as the circumstances would permit. Lincoln was just a little ways ahead of the people: he was a real leader; he felt his way. And that is just what Yale is doing. If any one started out to make a university, I am sure that he would not make one like Yale. Yet Yale to-day is greater and means more than any mere theorist could have imagined. We have our traditions, which are the growth of the years; some of these we want to get The meeting | NEW HAVEN, CONN., WEDNESDAY, FEB. 14, 1900. rid of, but not so fast that we shall loose all those traits that have made Yale what she is to-day. We must not lose the democracy, the Christian char- acter, the loyalty which we love to call by the name of the Yale spirit. (Ap- plause. ) “We have two sets of problems be- fore us at the present time—one of them material, the matter of buildings and finances; and the other the prob- lem of organization and construction. We must formulate a policy upon both these sets of problems. Our partial solution of the first I suppose you are tolerably familiar with. You have prob- ably seen the plans of the Bi-centen- nial buildings, which are now in the architect’s hands. In the later Spring we hope to break the ground for the Dining Hall and the Auditorium, and to begin the quadrangle which is to be _ the center of the larger Yale life of the future. THE FAYERWEATHER DORMITORY. But this is not all. The generous gift of Mr. Fayerweather, in spite of the protracted litigation, is at last in shape to justify us in beginning a build- ing which we shall name in memory of the donor. This will be a part of the quadrangle begun by White; it will be erected to the east of the latter build- ing and will be comparable with it, and will be the beginning of an avenue of approach to the Bi-centennial build- ings. We also propose to cut an arch- way through Durfee, similar to that in Vanderbilt. As soon as these new buildings a-e under way we shall take down North College and the Lyceum— perhaps it would be more correct to say that we shall cease to prop them up. SOUTH MIDDLE. South Middle will be permitted to remain somewhat longer. (Great ap- plause.) There is an iconoclastic dis- position among certain Yale men that wants to do away immediately with these relics of the past—these clerical gentlemen, you know, are so radical. (Laughter.) But if they had, as a Sophomore, built their bonfires in front of these o.u buildings, and conscien- tiously slept through them as a tutor—as I have—they would, I am sure, take a different view of the matter. (Great applause. ) GRADING THE CAMPUS. “We shall also do something in the way of grading the old Campus. Some one has remarked that the Yale build- ings have grown up in about the same way as the courses of study—there are no two of them upon the same level. There are no two walks in the same line. But there are certain improvements we can make, even at this late day. We cannot, it is true, have a fence to-day on the corner of College and Chapel Streets ; and I think that, in view of the increasing population of New Haven, it 18 just as well that it be moved into the center of the Campus. And those who have supposed that the Yale demo- cracy is such a frail thing that it dis- appeared with the old Yale fence will be glad to learn that we can have that ancient institution reproduced inside the Campus, and that we are going to do it.” (Applause. ) MR. BOWLES PLAN APPROVED. President Hadley then passed to the internal work of organization. He ad- mitted that the organization of Yale to-day was of the same chaotic char- acter as the old architecture. He re- lated a story of “Sam” Bowles, editor Copyright, 1900, by Yale Alumni Weekly. Price 10 Cents. of the Springfield Republican, who, be- ing asked how he brought it about that all the columns of his paper looked as though they were written by the same man, replied: “by swearing and swear- ing and swearing.” In a similar way President Hadley thought that the dif- ferent faculties of Yale could be brought into coordination. He referred to the school of music recently established and the: remarkable success it had achieved. The University, he added, proposed to establish a school of for- estry in the same progressive way. JUDGE TAFT’S APPOINTMENT. And now that the destiny of the Philippines, the speaker added, had been put in the hands of a Yale man, the Uni- versity would attempt to bring it about that Yale men be given the preference, in all undertakings of this sort—not through favoritism, but through fitting them for the work. There would be an attempt made to make the closing years of the undergraduate course the beginning of professional training; and to develop an elective system so that it will furnish all the advantages without the disadvantages of such a_ system. The student, the speaker believed, should be led gradually to specializa- tion; not “to survey the broad field of human knowledge in an easy way.” All this, it was admitted, was very indefinite; but President Hadley thought that along some such lines as this there was room for reform. The difference in method between Yale and other in- stitutions, he said, would not be world- wide; Yale would cooperate with her sister universities, but would make in- dependent experiments as well. Presi- dent Hadley received another ova- tion at the conclusion of his address. MR. BEAMAN FOR HARVARD. After a selection from the Glee Club contingent, Charles C. Beaman, Har- vard ’6I, was introduced. He spoke on “Harvard.” Mr. Beaman referred facetiously to the New Yale, as illus- trated in his predecessor’s speech. He was especially taken with the idea of schools of music and forestry. “It is very convenient,’ he said; “when you don’t like the music, you can take to the woods.” The speaker declared that -he had always been fond of Yale and that ‘he had always been closely asso- ciated with Yale men. uated from Harvard, he said, and came to New York “and advertised for a quiet room in a small family,” he found Judge Howland a member of that family and he had always found him a valua- ble friend since. “Besides,” added Mr. Beaman, “I married a Yale girl.” He thought the two universities were so closely related and the fortunes of one -were so closely allied with the fortunes of another that they were in a sense but one university. “When we are to- gether,” he said, “we can’t pick each. other out. Last Fall I had the grip and when I got well enough to talk with my nurse, I asked her where she came from. She was a Kentucky girl and very loyal to Kentucky too. ‘I think,’ she said to me, ‘that we ought to stand up for our State, don’t you? I think we ought to, even if its Indiany.’ And that’s the way I feel about Harvard. This matter of our college is something we ought all to be proud of and fight for, even as we would for our mother. But it is something that we ought not to pick fights about.” A PLEASING RETORT. Mr. Beaman described Harvard as Yale’s grandmother, and referring to President Hadley’s comparison of the When he grad-— present day Yale to Lincoln’s administra- tion told a story of an old preacher who prayed for the president in this wise: “Oh Lord, bless the president and give him that wisdom he so sorely needs.” He referred to the great service New Haven had done Harvard College in the early days in the way of financial as- sistance, and declared that it was a benefaction for which Harvard would always be grateful. He likewise claimed that Harvard had done a great deal for Yale. Of the ten trustees who _gave the name of Yale to the New Ha- ven college, he declared, nine of them “wore sweaters with ‘Harvard’ upon them.” There was some reason, there- fore, in describing Harvard as Yale’s grandmother; or perhaps it would be better to describe them as sisters of different ages. ANOTHER STRIKE FOR THE OLD BUILDINGS. “This business of founding a college,” said Mr. Beaman, “required nerve. And if I were a Yale man some of those old buildings would be propped up until I died. (Applause.) I love old Har- vard, and, more than anything else, I love those old buildings which the au- thorities have not yet seen fit to tear down. And I would rather keep old Benjamin Silliman alive than a hundred new men just graduated in music and forestry. HARVARD AND YALE. “Gentlemen, we haven’t many such old institutions in this country as Yale and Harvard; and let us cherish them as long as we may. And these old col- leges should not form a trust—for, Mr. President, we must always be in such relations that we can invite each other co dinner. There must always be com- petition between us. It is true that we might get up a combination—have Hadley for president and Eliot for exec- utive committee. (Laughter.) In this way we might save a few salaries—its. true this wouldn’t amount to a great deal; but we might save them. But after all it would not pay. For what we want between these two colleges—- and what we want above everything else—is competition—and we want com-, petition in which one of the two par- ties comes out ahead; for if there's anything I hate its a contest in which neither side wins. Its hard to get licked; but its worse not to have any- one get licked. We want such a friendly rivalry as existed a great many years ago between a Yale and a Harvard man who, after going hungry for the larger part of the term, made a- wager as to which could eat the largest Thanksgiving dinner. The men trained on different principles—one decided to eo hungry for several days before the contest in order to enter the game with a good appetite, and the other decided to eat as much as he could every day, in order to train his powers in that direction us to the highest pitch. The latter came out ahead by a single. piece of pie.” : “That must have been the Harvard man,” put in President Hadley, amid great laughter. “No,” replied the speaker,” it was the Yale man. And who do you think it” was? It was William M. Evarts and his opponent was Judge Hoar, and that was what I call true friendly rivalry— the same sort that should exist between the two institutions to-day. What was finer than the recent Yale inaugural— at which President Hadley wore his Harvard hood and President Eliot his Yale hood?”
