Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-11
President Butler Of Columbia
on College Foot Ball.
EXPLAINS LATE ACTION
DECLARES THAT UNIVERSITY
COULDN'T REFORM THE GAME.
Says That There Was Nothing Else to
Do but to Abolish It-Many
Congratulations.

President Butler of Columbia University
has issued statement giving the reasons
for the recent abolition Of foot ball at the
| university. He leaves little hope for the
| reinstatement of the game. for there is
no reason to believe that 1T will be so
| modified as to make 1t acceptable to the
authorities at Columbia. The statement
! follows:
President Buffers Statement
ITO the Alumni and Student Members OF
Columbia University:
THE action of the committee on student
organizations, taken by unanimous vote In
putting an end to the present game of foot
ball at Columbia University has my cor
| dial approval, and I wish to state briefly
why that action ds In the best interests Of
the whole university.
Columbia University has no control, d.
rect or indirect, over the present game of
foot ball. If played by our representa- tives
1t must be played in the form and manner
prescribed by a committee which the chair
man OF our university committee on 18th
lettcs has appropriately described as self
perpetuating, irresponsible impervious to
public opinion, and culpable in refusing to
heed the increasingly dangerous character
OF the game.
1.-THE game which this committee has de-
vised and developed Is not a sport, but a
ing, complete absorption of time and
thought, and Is inconsistent-in practice, at
least-with the devotion to work which is
the first duty of the college or university
student. 1t can be participated in by only
the merest fraction Of the student body.
An Academic Nuisance.
Throughout the country 1t has come to
be an academic nuisance because of It's In
reference with academic work, and an
IL, H., l.
physical ills that follow in it's train The
large sums received in gate money are a
template to extravag CANT management
and the desire for them marks the game as
in no small degree a commercial enter
prise. The great public favor with which
even the iercest contests are received is
not a cause for exultation but rather for
profound regret
I'VE ourselves cannot reform this game,
and the experience of years has shown
that the rules committee does not desire to
reform it. Moreover, only a few OF the
evils of the game are seen on the playing
field. Those evils are many, subtle and
controlling; they affect every phase of col
lege and university life. and for some years
past have reached down even into the sec
ondary schools. They are moral and edu-
catfonal evils of the first magnitude.
Not an ff-Hand Decision.
Columbia University owes It to its ira
as to the responsibility which it bears to
its students, to put an end, so far as action
by it can, to this state Of affairs 1t has
done so. The act itself may seem sudden
to some, but the convictions that led to
the act have been years in forming
at is urged that foot ball is great aid
to the development of college spirit. Every
member OF the faculty is interested in the
development of true college spirit and
would do all In his power to promote it.
But the contention that the present game
of foot ball is necessary to that end is Il
lusory. Even If 1t were not so, college
spirit is too dearly bought If college intell-
gence and college morals are sacrificed for
1t. College spirit existed long before foot
ball was heard Of and will exist long after
foot ball is forgotten. We must get the
qualities of manliness, loyalty and courage
built up on moral foundation, and not
allow them to rest upon purely physical
one-for in the last analysis a purely phys
ical basis is purely animal basis. There
must be something to rest upon when the
tumult and the shouting dies
Our own athletic committees have for
some years past rigfdly enforced the strict
est rules to professionalism and aca-
demic eligibility. They point out that Co
lumbia teams have at times been obliged
to suffer defeat because of their firm ad-
herence to those rules. These facts are
known to the members OF the committee
on student organizations, and therefore
In6lr action Is IN no sense 10 De interpreted
as censure of the foot ball management
at Columbia, but as condemnation of the
present game of foot ball itself.
Many Congratulations.
"Since the action of our committee was
made known We have been overwhelmed
with messages of congratulatton and praise
for university from leaders of public
opinion everywhere The best Judgment OF
those best qualified to judge is that We
have done distinct public service In shut.
ting the present game of foot ball and it's
committee on rules out Of Columbia Uni
versity.
What next? I do not know and cannot
| predict But I think that this much Is
certain. II any game called foot ball takes
the place of the one we have put behind
us, 1t will be a game free from the evils
that have pointed out. one wholly ac-
ceptable to our authorized committee, and
to our alumni advisers, and one which rep
resentatives of Columbia will have some
share in controlling IL abuses develop in
connection with 1t.
at is not agreeable for men to feel
obliged to take action, in obedience to the
dictates of their judgment and their con-
science, that brings disappointment to
others, particularly when those disappoint-
ed are to be found among their own stu
dents and daily associates. Yet In the
present instance our duty was plain and
I commend the action of the constituted
university authority to the approval Of
every true Columbia man, and to that of
every lover of manly, decent amateur
| sport Sober reflection will, am conf
dent, bring even the most enthusiastic fol-
lower of foot ball among us to see that the
action taken Is the only course worthy of a
university with our reputation and au-
thority, and the only really effective way
| to open the door to a truly reformed, In
stead of tinkered, foot ball.
NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER
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