The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-07
MAKING A new PRINCETON
REPORT OF A COMMITTEE OF
TRUSTEES on THE MOVEMENT.


TRUSTEES on THE MOVEMENT.
The P~recepterisl system . Great Advance.
They say-Next Step 10 He the Division
Of tho College Into '.Quads"-Dispo-
siuen Of the Property OF the Clubs.
The newspapers In reporting the other
day President Woodrow Wilson's formal
announcement Of his plan to do away with
the upper class club system at Princeton
overlooked an interesting report made by
q committee Of the university board OF
trustees on this subject. Tn Princeton
Alumni Weekly publishes this report in full
In its last issue:
-We have" says the committee. wit
messed in the last few years the creation Of
a new Princeton as the result-the astonish-
ingly prompt result-of our attempt to give
the university q vital, spontaneous intel
lectual life. We realized that, for all Its
subtle charm and beguiiing air Of academic
distinction, Princeton, 30 far as her under
graduates we're concerned, had como to
be merely q delightful place Of residence.
where young men. for the most part happily
occupied with other things, were made TO
perform certain academic tssks; that. al
though We demanded at stated times q cer-
tain part Of the attention of our pupils for
intellectual things, their life and conscious
ness were for the rest wholly unscademio
and detached from tho interests which In
theory were the all important interests Of
the place. For a great majority Of them
residence here meant q happy life Of oom-
radeship and sport interrupted by the grind
OF p~erfunctory lessons and e~xaminstions.
to which they attended rather because of
the fear Of being cut on from the life than
because they were seriously engaged IN
getting the training which would nt their
faculties and their spirits for the tasks Of
the world
The COMMITTEES says that when Prinoston
introduced the p~reoeptoriai system two
years ago 1t made the greatest strategic
move toward combining the leisure M
study of university life that has been made
in the whole history OF American uni
versities.
by it, says the conmittec. we meant
TO say that the intellectual life OF n college
did not consist OF attendance upon class
exercises or Of preparation for recitstions,
with study and the intimate association
of teacher and pupil outside the class
room, where tho tradition Of lectures and
recitations was forgotten. rejected and
a thoroughly natural and human rclstion-
ship, the relationship Of fellow students.
substituted. And hat meaning has at
once been made evident to the whole
country. The contrast to the old order
Of things n most marked In the case OF the
intercourse Of undergraduates with those
preceptors who invite them often to their
houses or who live in tho same dormi-
tories with them. A natural and easy
social relationship. N informal. frequent
exchange Of calls. b easy. unoonstrained
talks Of ordinary oomrade,hip. make .e1dy
But the trustees believe. - does Presi-
| den. Wilson. that there must be q complete
reorganization OF the university's social
life to reap the full results Of this precep-
torial system. In the opinion Of the
life TO he clubs, seems in danger OF be-
| coming only -an artistic setting n back
ground for life on Prospect avenue.
The COMMITTEES points out that President
yates in residential quadrsngles 10 not the
scheme Of the English colleges.
Those oolleges,' says the COMMITTEES.
have separate autonomy. Each sepaxately
undertakes the instruction Of the under
graduates within II. Tho plan We propose
involves only q convenient residential d.
vision OF the university a. Q social body.
It does not involve its division, or the al
| Iteration Of its past academic life. In any
stitute for the present division Of the uni
versity into small social segments. which
constantly tend to war with n another
and to cut the university into factions,
larger segments.. or rather vital grouPs.
rivalries and cliques.
The trustees believe that II will be pos
sible, instead Of abolishing the clubs. to
adapt them to the new order Of things
residential quad ~ part Of the university
itself.
In a memorandum which President viii
son has submitted to tho clubs themselves
he explains how he believes the trsnsforma-
Il should hope that. in efecting the
transition, each club would vest its prop
erty In the hands Of a SINAI board Of trustees
OF It's own choice who o be charged
with administering it for the benefit Of the
university In association with the present
university authorities; and that hal board
should have important powers OF advice or
confirmation In respect OF the appointment
Of resident members Of the faculty and the
regulations governing the assignment OF
students to the quad under it's supervision,
and Wit regard to all matters upon which
they could retain a hold without embarras-
sing the uniform government Of the u
verslty al a whole or the supreme au-
thority Of the trustees Of the university
ITSELF
The question Of the Princeton upper class
clubs has been practically the sole topic of
conversation among Princeton men in this
city all the week. Tn sentiment toward
President Wilson'S radical announcement
seems to be about evenly divided. The
older alumni as q rule are inclined to sup
port President Wilson. but hat 10 natural.
Princeton's upper class club systom 10 a
development of the last twenty years.
Most OF the younger alumni md the under
graduates, however. are opposed to tho
plan.