p. 9 | UNIVERSITY SPORTS

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 16, 1902

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 16.

UNIVERSITY SPORTS.

Not long ago Dr. Minton, Moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly, was reported to have said that this country is "university mad." As he is an educator of national repute, his opinion, tho expressed in strong language, is based on observation and experience. Be that as it may, however, there are others who have observed that universityism is becoming a fad with many young men, rather than a medium of procuring a good practical education. The Chicago American, in December last, had this to say:—

Dr. William Rainey Harper, of the University of Chicago, is sorely troubled. The class of 1905 has proved a wayward one in many respects since it entered the university last October. First, several of its members incurred the displeasure of the head of the school by precipitating the fiercest and most destructive flag rush in the history of the school. Now it has fallen once more under the ban—this time because of the scholarship standing of its members. Lured away from the straight and narrow path of scholastic duty by the enticements of foot-ball games, theater parties, banquets, dances, and other social functions of university life, two-thirds of the members of the class have fallen below passing grade in one or more of their studies.

Now, with the quarter so near an end, and the Christmas examinations only a week away, the deans assert that the condition of affairs is well-nigh hopeless. There is not sufficient time remaining before the close of the quarter for the delinquent students to make up their work, if they had the inclination to do so, and hence it seems unavoidable that over half of the freshmen will receive unwelcome Christmas presents in the shape of notices of failure from the university recorder.

Members of the faculty and upper class-men at the university ascribe the low scholarship record of the freshmen to the injurious effects of "rushing" tactics on the part of the Greek letter fraternities. A regulation of the university which was formulated by Dr. Harper when he issued his permission to the national fraternities to establish chapters at the university, prohibits a student from joining any secret society until he has completed three months' work. This rule, however, does not prevent the fraternities from "rushing" the new men whom they desire to pledge and initiate after the Christmas holidays, and consequently throughout the autumn quarter a merry competition is waged by the different fraternities in bidding for the favor of desirable members of the freshmen class. The same thing is true of the competition of the sororities for the first-year "co-eds."

It is expected that the numerous failures this year will lead to more stringent rules governing the number of social affairs. The secret-society men, however, have gained more confidence in the stability of their existence at the university since the announcement that Dr. Harper has joined the Masonic Order.