Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-12-24
essential. That, however the beauty
of the indweliing soul was reflected
IN His features. there can be no doubt.
AGAINST i ]. 1IAzING.

President Il. y NJ James, of the Uni-
4 Yersity Of Illinois, a short time ago, is
! sued an address to the students OF
that institution, against flazing This
4 awful custom prevails more or less in
American colleges and universities, and
. 1t certainly calls for some energetic eff
| forts to stamp It out. In his address
President James says, in part:
There should be no misunderstood.
4 Ing on the part OF the student body or
the general public as to the attitude
. of authorities of the University OF Ills
nois on the subject OF hazing. 1t Is a
rule Of the board OF trustees that stu
| dents found guilty of hazlng shall be
| dismissed from the university. Since
this rule went into effect, all students
who have been clearly proven guilty
of hazing have been dismissed.
"Hazing Is a violation OF good man
ners and of the right of individual lib
erty. 1t is provocative of public dis
order, Public opinion throughout the
4 state has very properly set its seal of
| condemnation upon 1t. On all counts It
| must be put Under tho ban of the uni-3
versity.
! In its inilder forms it is q NONSENSE
| cal and almost idiotic form of antuse-
ment, unworthy Of the support or
favor Of any sensible university stu
dent. It was looked upon as a conlpar-
atively slight offense. perhaps, twenty
years ago in small Institutions. 1t Is
today altogether unworthySof the ira
ditions and reputation of a national in
stitution such as this has become.
I'm its coarser forms iazing is a
vulgar, brutal, always denoralizing
and sometimes dangerous form of sport
which the university cannot countc-9
nance or tolerate. 1t naturally leads to
rcplisals and may thus become a source
of serious disorder within and without
the university. In it's worst forms,
which fortunately have not prevailed
here. 1t may, not inaptly, be compared
with nlght-riding. white Gaping. and
other similar forms of outrageous inter-
ference with private and public rights.
Surely these are reasons enough not
only to forbid its existence at the uni.
yersity. but to use every legitimate
means to stamp 1t out.
All loyal and law abiding students
are especially requested to cooperate
with the authorities in putting an abb
solute end to this custom which In ad-
dition to the evil It does within the
university brings dishonor upon the
fair name of our alma mater through;
out the state and country and natural
~ begets a prejudice against us which
influences unfarorably the prosperity
of the institution" q
The hazing craze very often breaks
out at the beginning OF the year and
RACES for a time, like a fever. 1t is,
as President James, in letter to the
News" says, difficult to eradicate.
owing to the sentiment of parents and
public officials on the subject, who,
while condemning the thing in the abb
stract, in mild sort of way, practical
ly support it by q refusal to regard it
as anything more than a bit OF HARM
less horse play which will take care
of itself IN the long run.
"This view" our correspondent adds,
"is, Of course, justified in regard to
certain phases of 1t, but other more
serious phases, which show themselves
now and then in different institutions,
are really the outcropping OF the same
spirit that shows itself In such an
alarming way in the frequency of mob
action Of various kinds in different
parts OF the United States"
This. we Thinks true. The colleges
and universities of this Republic ought
to be Institutes in which young men
and women learn to honor duly con-.
stituted authority and to respect the
rights and privileges of others as much
as their own. II they are not trained
in the exercise of this principle Of pa.
triotism they are likely to go astray as
citizens and become the supporters and
promoters Of, mob rule in the state. In
view OF the hazing incidents that have
disgraced some OF our schools, and the
awful lawlessness that makes some Of
our states no better than the regions
terrorized by bandits and outlaws, it is
high time for our colleges. universities
! and the public press to unite in an
earnest effort to abate this menace to
our free institutions.