The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-26
HGRYARDACOLLEGE OFCLUBS
SOCIAL system THAT CAUSED
UNREST RECENTLY.

II was blamed fer UnsAtisfa0tOFy Cons
ditORa IN Athletiea-Unhke the System
In ANY Other American Cell eEe-Many
clubs Of All Kinds what They DO.
CAMBmDoR, Mas, March 25.-During
tho first half Of the present academic year
at Harvard there was manifested q spirit
Of hostility against tho social clubs such
as had not been sson for many a year.
Things were not going especially we'll In
football and the students were dissatisfied
with the manner In which Managers were
chosen for the athletic teams. Failing to
find any adequate cause for these oondl-
tons. q cry was raised against the social
system.
Since the Christmas recess and especially
since ". T. Reid, Jr., was appointed head
coach Of the football elsVen for neat fail,
tho spirit Of unrest has subsidized. Now
the Undergraduate life at the university
has resumed its usual aspect.
The social system at Harvard differs
radically from that in vogue In any other
American college where fratemities exist
There are now several fraternity chapters
at Harvard which are afaliAted with
national organizations, but for the most
part they are not important clubs. and
they are the exception rather than the
rule.
Harvard draws 90 large = number Of
students from other colleges to its grad
uRte departments that Il would DO very
inoonvenisnt for the college members Of o
fraternity to take In ell the graduate mem
borS from other colleges, and this L. the
chief reason why the club system has
almost entirely driven out the fraternity
system.
Contrary to the general impression fresh
men at Harvard are eligible TO olubs; there
are In fact, very few clubs To which they
are not eligible. To begin with, there are
two clubs which restrict their membership
to members Of the first year CLASSES In the
college and scientific school. They are tho
Polo and Fencing olubs. For many ySsrH
the faculty openly opposed clubs for fresh
men. These clubs assumed athletic names
to disguise their real character.
There haS always been q great opposition
70 these clubs. as It IL asserted that they
take their members away from the rest
OF the class and form them into ohqueS.
1t would be no great surprise to many men
at Cambridge to see them abolished in the
near future.
In the sophomore year the club most
sought by undergraduates is the Institute
Of ITO, the Oldest social organization 10
Years ago II merged with
the D. X. E and lost tie identity for a time,
until In 1897 IL was put back on its feet.
The d. h. z, and the Institute are, how
ever, still connected In that the first eight
tens Of the latter make up the 'Diokey,'
but the sDioksyT has rooms Of is own,
and a separate organization.
II was against the Institute that the
attack Of the non-soOial set wAa chiefly
directed last fall when things we're going
wrong in football. II was asserted thai
this club was running things on the grid
iron for the good Of it's members. AS a
matter Of fact there IL no more loosely or
ganized body Of men in Harvard than the
Institute. The only time the organization
gets together is on It's slection-and initiation
nights.
Another objection made against the
Institute was that IL was no longer the
body II was a dozen years
ago. To q considerable degree this was
true, and certain members Of the GLASS Of
O6 have worked hard 10 make 1t a moro
club, one which looked
more 70 what a man had done for his class
and college than to bis social standing
These men have been successful In their
20 a marked degrees IN the
light tens taken on this year.
The other large social club, and the one
IN which meEnbOrship u most coveted IL
he juniOr-D onioT sociSty, The Hasty Pudding
Club. It's membSrship IL q reward for
'ervices rendered 70 the college, and b Il
yensrally conceded that men Who deserve
% make the club have BEEN tAksn In
The Pudding, aS 10. II Q commonly Known,
lRs q spacious clubhouse and theatre on
Hoiyoks street just Oh Massachusetts,
avenue. For more than slTty yeaTS now the
,hief object o. the club has been 70 tive an
annual play, Besidss the publicly per -,
'ormed play the club gives . Christmas
play, and another toward the close Of tho
rear. Many Of the plSyS given by the club
,ave become we'll known, Just now the
me attracting most attention is Doodle
b Co, last years. play, which is now beng
presented by the cadets at the fremont
Theatre.
Each year some artist member Of the
Hub draws q poster. and the walls OF the
heatre and clubrooms are now lined with
hese.
The Pudding Ia now in no sense a secret |
Since 1901 IL has taken no
part IN making up a slate for class day
,nAcers, and has become purely q social
There are two other large social clubs
which devote themselves 10 theatrioals
Vt Harvard, the Pi Eta Society and the
Harvard Chapter Of the Delta Epsilon
or these the former produces
IN original play. Ns does the Pudding, and
he latter gives each spring some play OF
he Elizabethan period.
The ri Eta has q large house on Boylston
street, with a good theatre connected with