The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-09-01
nm s0IIr6T vi
~ t1r,~r, pr,x,n -D-, rI"p'nrri ~ the
college Nsrd

~pms iav. nobody knows whom. hut
more than two thousand wears Y som"
old S~icilisns who laid ont y r~acecour~c
called ~ . campus soon n vsS used Tot
foot races ~ vell ~ chariot RACES. and
before long for every kim ~ sport and
eNcrci.. In the open air That IL pretty
near the use ~ the present canpus for
the Old college yardS have spread out with
the growth ~ the colleges to make fields
for every kind Of athletic exercise.
The Old Romans were nothing II not
sporty. and " looks nov A. II the old Roman
idea - the higher education was becoming
more and more fanciet, In the old palmv
days ofl the campus there were cight IN
Rome alone and the Campus Martins
most famous Of all was n wonderful sight
10 sec with its magnificent temples and
baths and monuments IA first really
magnificent campus in this country. I'll"
design Of Thomas Jefferson for the tni-
vorsity ~ Virginia, was Intentionally mod
ellci after the Campus Martins. Al the
start however. in this country the college
wards were much more modest. u IN Of
particular interest To recall that the first
college campus in America was LAID out
in a village and only distinguished as a
part ~ the village COX Pasture"
do not know when the college yard
was first raised to the dignity ~ the clas-
steal campus, says "A writer in the 'iHd0e
Yards were good enough in old colony
days for the wants and taste 81 the SCHOLARS,
No premiums were then given for special
proficiency in athletics, and leadership IN
-por vas not the chief boast ~ an Amer
lean college.
In fact, there was no sporting or dis
porting TO speak Of on the first college
green's. Both Harvard and Yale at the
start were little more than training schools
for a sober faced ministry, and the students
were, a. a body, little clergymen in swad-
ding clothes whose daily walk and con
versation were regulated with strict Puritan
SUPERVISION.
Rows will be boys and doubtless some
Of them played On the campus sometimes
hut the common sports Of the old English
Universities were not imported or initiated
for many years. For a century or more
hccollege Yards were places to walk through
or sit in roverentially, for he making Of
Fairgrounds was not then coicc'Neit 10 be Oh
Importance.
ihe first approach to the current Uses of
the campus came with the beginning of the
American Revolution. Then there were
military exercises on college grounds, the
american NdthP U '"' 'fNk' s-N'',s
was the Old Cambridge d Pasture. and
part of the British trooIe, attacked by
Washington on the morning OF January 3,
I777, was driven across the college campus
of Princeton.
The close Of the Revolution, however,
reaIly marks the beginning Of the modern
notion and Use of the campus. This was
the end Of the ecclesiastical period,
French liberal notions began To run riot.
The college campus was then. as Il Is to-day.
a tnt-x.r IF nrayaihnu l6als The ullleT
student life was upset in some college yards
Ivy boistsTous meetings, horse play, coarse
dramatic exhibitions and outbursts OF
rowdyism.
rivalry m the campus grew keener as
pecially between the sophomore 81
freshmen. Class "rishes" and more or less
good humored contests OF every Kind be-
came permanent institutions. Hazing ran
ampan ofttimes in spite OF the frowns
and protests OF the faculty.
Class professions and exercises Of all
kinds on the same field constantly advanced,
too, in proportions and variety, and on
college class days and commencement
the green and tree arched campus was u
show ground hardly less attractive and
animated h the ancient CAMP ON festal
days.
With the growth and elaboration OF ath-
letic exercises and sports the christening
Of the campus became more and more APP
propriate, This In an evolution, however,
practically of the last half century.
Seventy wears ago there was only a rude
little open air gymnasium on a petty annex
of the Harvard campus, and the old gradu-
ates Of that generation who prattle ~ foot
ball" and baseball" in their memories only
knew enough 81 either game 10 kick "a ball
TO and fro on "A little field and plug" u run
ner with u soft ball in the old English
FOUNDERS.
There was no trained foot running or
leaping or weight throwing. Tennis and
golf we're barely known by report. Boat
racing had not gone beyond the padding
OF skiffs, and. with the exception Of fencing,
swimming and walking were the only exer-
cises in which there was any show of pro-
ficiency.
The college campus to-day Is the mirror
NJ the modern ardor Tor sport. The only
valid objection Ia the present tsc of IA"
81 mmis is thar II IL not general enough
but j. too largely confined to tho training
of picked mon for intercollegiate com
petitions.