The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-12-29
OUT AND ABOUT.

MIR. Henry D. Sheldon of Clark Uni
versitv delighted the Woman's' Club
YESTERDAY afternoon with his lecture on
Politics in American College," which
was given under the auspices of the
miscellaneous TOPICS committee, Mrs. o..
f. Rawson. chairman. Many of those
present had not heard Mr.. Sheldon s
brilliant course at the summer school,
last July, and they We're not prepared
to find in him the fluent. magnetic and
absorbinglv interesting speaker he
proved himself to be.
In opening, the lecturer referred to
the nrnciDle of Self-actiVity as the
most important and impressive of the
many theories Of which Froebel was
the author: then taking tho student Or
ganization as a form Of the self-activ
ity of the young man a college, he
briefly discussed some of the principal
forms of such organization, in order to
see, first, how they were related to
the life of the American college, and
second, how they contrasted with the
similar organizations of French, Ger
man and English-students.
OF them all, said Mr.. Sheldon in
part, the class, which was largely an
outgrowth of frontier conditions, was
the earliest. The founders of Harvard
University desired to perpetuate the
customs of the ancient universities,
but being restricted in funds, they had
to grouD all men who entered in the
same year in a class, instead of CIV
ing each a private tutor. Although
the class, as a promoter OF cameradie,
was always useful, ii vas not till this
century that the class organization
was known. Then il became the COL
lege unit against the faculty or the
town, the promoter of repellion against
the mistaken paternalsm of the fac
ulty. OF this early attitude the haz-
ing and rushing of today arr rem
nant. Now. class organization is
largely social, and, especially after
graduation assumes significance and
importance. 1t enables the freshman to
find himself and assert itself% and its
benefits are proved by its absence, as
in the case of Harvard, where but lit
tie of it survives.
The literary and debating society was
the second student organization to be
formed. 1t was the outgrowth of that
intense interest in politics which, in
New England, divided with the church
the interest of the people, and else
where outrivaled other forms of am
usement and interest entirely. Found
ed in the first instance at Yale in 1850
it had spread through all the colleges
py the revolutionary period, and from
then ON till 1910 was predominant.
There were then no athletics or profess
sional clubs, and the man who was a
brilliant speaker was recognized as
leader. But with 1910, wealth began to
tell an men entered college who felt
themselves above their associates, and
tn S with the abuse of debating and
the love OF good time, resulted in thu
rise of the Greek letter society. The
debating society had been democrati.
and intellectual; the Greek letter So
cIety is exclusive and largely social.
With its chapters, provinces and ma
tlonaI union, it holds conventions ev-
cry year, and shows in a considera BILE
degree the faculty for government.
The fraternity system is much moot
ed, continued Mr.. Sheldon: some most
distinguished graduates among whom
is President Andrew D. White of Cor
nell, believe it entitled to support,
which another class of institutions led
by Princeton, hold the secrecy involved
in it to be a mistake which is likely To
lead to dissipation.
But Princeton has never succeeded in
crushing it; fraternities always exist in
anu-fraternity colleges. But not only
90 faculties dlsapprove of them; there
IS class of students who do not be-
ileVe in Them Although in the east the
fraternity prevails, in the University of
Michigan and other western colleges it
mas been the cause of bitter struggles
When two classes of intelligent men
clHer so widely, perhaps the only CON
clusion to be drawn is that a good frat
ternity is culture in itself, but that in
the ordinary fraternity there is a tend
ency to extravaganza and to neglect of
the curriculum.
In athletics the student organization
hnds lis most spectacular and conspic-
uous expression today said the speak
er, continuing, although athletics are
not really so prominent as one who
only reads the newspapers might infer
The great criticism on them is that
they do not include all the students.
few are very highly trained; a number
more adore then; but not more than
one man in four takes an active part
in them, the consequence being that a
few overdo it, While the others under
do it. This is in contradiscnction to
The English custom, by which every I'M
dergraduate takes two hours hard
muscular work daily-a system dis
tinctly superior to that of American
colleges.
The last form of organization men
toned was one which shows a tendency