The Gavelyte, February 1913

The Gavelyte VOL. VII. FEBRUARY, 1913. NO . 11 Home from College. I N "Scribner's Magazine" for November, Prof. Paul Van Dyke has an article on College Life . One fair thing about this article is the presenta– tion of college life in general. It is altogether unjust to take one of our colleges and make it the object of special criticism. The fact is, the only distinction that can well be made between colleges is the distinction of large and small. This dots not mean a difference in excellence. For a college may possess. or fail to possess, ex– cellence without any regard to its size . For some purposes, the smaller col– leges offer the larger adv:rntages; for other purposes, the larger college is better. Professor Van Dyke speaks of the affection which men torm for their col– lege campus even in old age. This depends upon the kind of life which the man has led in college. lt ought to be remembered that it is the minority of college graduates who return to the campus. If the professor only knew it, there are men, not a few who hate the very memory of their college life, and change much of their !if.e's misery to the artificiality, concentrated temptations, and the indifference in tr1e faculty, which they met in the early and boyhood days of their college career. We would not imply that this was the experi ence of the majority, but the number who feel this way is too large to be passed by as unworthy of notice. VI C IOUS EXCITEMENT. One of the misunderstandings which now threatens the colleges, accord– ing to Professor Van Dyke, "is the idea that college life has as one of its peculiar and essential elements, a large amount of extremely foolish, and even vicivus, excitements." Among these exeitements, he refers to the craze of athletics, and to the drinking habit, as manifeskd in connection with the student life, and especially at class reunions and at commencemeut times. No thoughtful man would discourage athletics in the life of the young man anywhere. But every earne t man to-day does realize that, in conect10n with cullege life, athletics are all owed too much control, and that the authorities of tl1e colleges are respons ible for this excess. College authorities have been responsible for the appearance on college teams of men whose