The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-18
CONDITIONS AT YALE.
DOrmitOries Said TO BE Stunned Nowadays
by Students With Social Ambitions.

ny 6tuuoutS WIN SOciAl AmDiuOno.
A good deal has had. to be said Of Yale
democratic ideals lately, says q student
Of that university, writing In the Ydlo
Monthly. They have shown a tendency to
a state Of dissolution. The fact that 40 per
cent only of last years freshman class
lived in college buildings, and 40 per cent. of
the sophomore, is not Of itself significant.
1t might we'll be due to mere lack Of room.
The real danger is that the other 81 and 81
per cent. respectively willingly left vacant
rooms on the campus. incidentally creating
a new social clique and structure Of their
W which is at variance with the Yale
spirit Of fairness and democracy. It is
also significantly dangerous that these
men who room outside the college are liable
to think that the road to fraternities and
social reputation lies through the new
structure and it's conditions rather than
through the individual himself.
The student body at Yale tends to divide
sharply into two elements, which, as the
trouble develops, become moro hostile to
each other. Ont contains the men OF
abundant means, the other Of limited and
small means. Each is apt to regard the
other with GOODNESS and suspicion.
This hostility. hard to avoid, may have
for superficial causes conditions which In
themselves are perfectly harmless. Take
for example the absentee habit, which has a
strong tendency to break up social
solidarity.
The deepest and most potent cause Of
social disunion, however, is not a mere
matter Of marks and cuts. The funda-
mental reason lies in the changing con-
ditions in the country at large.
A host of millionaires and multi-million-
aires has sprung up. A list of these for
the year 1902 comprised $500 names.
In exact step with this external change
comes a similar tendency within the col
lege walls. A subtle difference to wealth
creeps into the college.
For example, the lack of d~ormitories
would have had small influence had not the
question OF money enter rec into the matter
at all-were 1t not for the inflated prices
charged for convenient private rooms. It
is the growth Of materialism which has
caused the intellectual activities of the
cole &c TO wan so much that the society Of
Phi Beta Kappa, though it does not detract
from a mans reputation, yet does not give
him any additional prestige in the ayes Of
the average undergraduate.
There are a lot more men now who como
to college Tor anything but study. They
come because it is the thing or to carry on
social honors and athletic honors. And
the students don't carry their WI water
any more.
II is useless to consider the conditions
unless some remedy can be suggested. In
the first place college conditions should
he battered. The continual cry for moro
dormitoriee, better dormitories, must be
answered, 80 that everybody can be accom-
mo dated on the campus. When that 10
true rooming of the campus can be for
hidden by the faculty ,
This would without doubt largely elimi-
nate the faults arising from private room
ing, such as the influence Of money and the
chances for that outside interference In
undergraduate matters which has recently
been unearthed. It is alto gether unfortu-
nate that more than half Of each Of the two
lower classes should from choice as well as
necessity room outside the college.
II Is done mainly for the social advanta 90.
This was probably not Che original motive;
which had its origin in both lack Of rooms
and lack Of o~onveniences in the rooms.
The present rooms should, therefore, be
rem waited as far as possible and the build
ings put on a par with moro modern build
ings as regards ordinary oonveniences.