, 1874-05-16
"HAziNG" At MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY.

To the E dtor of The Chicago tribune:
SIN: Though perhapa the public have heard
enough in regard to the late troubles st Michigan
University, arising from this suspension OF son .
students for the practice OF hazins, yet do nos
think that your article in this mornings pape,
puts the matter in exactly the right light, be-
cause il loses sight OF what I consider k< strone
point OF tia students defense; and trust that
you and your readers will patiently listen to Z
few remarks in elaboration Of TIM. point.
But, before entering on its discussion. il
matter arising from the odiuin tEnt attaches te
tho word "haziug." II the of1ense OF tho stu.
dents had been represented smoking out
or pumping" think that many limld mind.
would not have beeu 1mmoderately horrlaed, OF
have condemned it as cowardiy and brutal
sport" And ret that IS e1acsly what it was
ouly that and nothing more. You must dis
tiuguish between hazlng historic and haz,uc
actual, as Prof. Swing would say. The former,
a. opce pract,ced in English and American
and disreputable; the lai,ep as now usually
pract1ced. ia onlT good hatured came Of
s!ve-and-take, .whe1o thero is no malice,
nor engeaderius. OF. bM blood, MOI,
danger OF .ph7eic1 injury. One night,
a freshman is eoize,. hy tbs sophom ores and
is taken to ne;shbr,rlng pump aud treated TO
colo~water bath >. .ue next nigat Oh. Of tho cap
tofs is captured BY rowing baud Of Freshmen,
aud suffers lse fate; and ilonors are easy, and
everything u lovely, and nobody is Lutt. As
YOU sag, t'Of tho character Of thia practices
there is 70 doubt" it i. about as ungentleman-
y ana Yow-bred as gano OF football.
Bu'. waiving all this, and granting that the
pr' tice il disgraceful and ought to bo abolished,
1--we the Faculty taken ths proper sourbe TO At
tain thas end; or 4sva they acted justly in tha
you will please allow me to discuss. Hare IL tiiB
custom OF haz,ng, which has been indulged in
by successive classes for years. No ren1on-
STRANGE bas CONS from the Faculty, and no ILL
the matter. or coarso they did not sanction it,
but they ignoredh. The supposi1ion Was, that
they regarded it, as others did, harmless
amusement, and a. an overflow of boyisb spirits
No one had beer suspended or reprirasuded,
though tue outrageous acts were frequent, and
the participants we'll known. They acted as If
they would say, Let tho boys hnva their fun,
and ~ long as it ia no more serious than this.
He 1iQ shut our eyes to it." Then, after college
had been in session for scven mouths, aud
tLs hazlng had been going on Us usual, suddenly
comes this proclamatioa Of suspons!on, a. thun-
dor from clear Sly No wonder tho classes
were astonished, aud demonstrated. There Was
no pretouso that those singled out had been
conspicuous IN the PRACTICE; they did not charge
thut the classes to which they belonged had been
particularly cui Dable on the contrary, tho F2cul
tT had admitted thst t1ey had boon the quletest
and most orderly clnsbes that had been thors for
years. Is this The why 10 promote discipline, BY
sucn an act Of arbitrary injustice or will not
tnia course, liko any .njuaicious use OF power
rather tend to br1nS tl4o sutaozitics into disre-
pate with those WAo are fully acquainted with
the facts, and weaken theit hold on the respect
OF thinking persous2 I understand that tho
cltlzouB OF Ann Arbor side with the studente, aud
that respectable minority OF the Faculty op-
posed the action that was taken.
remember similar case that occurred at the
University sone ten years ago. when si1 OF seven
men in my cl.sa vsre arbitrarily suspended for
indulgence in the common ptactico Of a. ruBtr-
ing" By what process OF reasoning thoy to-
looted tha men. ws could never ind out; for
some Of them we're not in the rush at all, and
otners, perhapa tia most prominent rasb.ers,
ware not touched. The Fac 1lty finally aaw tho
absurdity Of their position, anl took every one
hack after = short vacation; and k.,o,o that
the! raised themselves in tho estimation OF the
students By that action, aud strengthened their
power for good BY acknowledging thu abaurdity
of their frat course.
think that would have been the result had
they acted similarly in this case. PzRprx.
CHICAGO, Hay II, 1874.