The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-11-07
Why Has Scholarship in
America Steadily Declined?
Causes Include Breaking Up of the Standardized Cur
riculum, Rapid Growth of College Athletics
and Other Student Activities and General
Lowering of Ethical Standards.
By LOUIS DWIGHT RAY,
HeRdmaster Irving school. New York ,,,,

New York Cits.
value when they are held In their
proper place and not allowed to he over
none. Football and rowing, baseball
ana tennis. bask etball and Ia cr,~se are
All manly sports and well worthy the
place and high esteem which they have
won.
Ana there ls another reason. Recog-
milton for scholatsh hip comes not IN a
day. because scholarship appeals only to
the cultivated few. They are niggard-
" IN bestowing praise. since 80 often
10 years gone by what has seemed
pure gold and has apparently stood
the various tests has on a sudden
showed base metal beneath-and once
more those who should know and do
know lind themselves mistaken. But
III athlctics or IN dramatics "A student
may wait 10 find himself IL not famous
AT least we'll on the road To- recognition
among the college idols. Last May "A
runner entered for the broad Jump and
practised for n week. The meet uc-
CURED. our runner went In for the
broad jump. won, broke a record and
found himself recognized. An under
graduate who was DESTROYS of crafty
hg his ambition naturally balances
scholarship and athletics and SAYS To
himself; IAN things considered. my
chances with athletics tbaseball or ten
mis- or running for exampley are far
greater than with Greek tragedy or
Latin poetry or old French. What 7
wan Is to be known, the way thereto
is secondary
" hnally scholarship Is decried by
may trareiy themselves college mem
on the score that it Is not practical.
This is a practical age" they say.
when every man hould become trained
FOR some definite task Never was A
greater mistake made rs to- collegiate
training. Practical training for a def
mite task is quite the right plan, but
II should come To a man after mis- coll
ltgc course Is completed. The four
undergraduate years of a college course
were never intended to have a practical!
trend. These are the years during
which the undergraduate is to find him
self and among other things learn how
TO learn.
In addition to the two chief causes
just given for the decline OF scholarship
namely, the breaking up of the stan
darized curriculum and the rapid
growth OF college athletics and student
activities. there II an important contrib
utory cause.-the general lowering OF
standards in religious beliefs and prac-
tices. In commercial dealings. in tinan-
'aI matters. III every Walk or ne. y
lowering OF standards so widespread
cannot but affect the colleges. Forty
years ago when n majority OF the coll
Ieges were still colleges and the classes
were smaller, these classes-for the
junior ana senior years at least-were
taught by the professors, and SO were
IN touch with ripe scholars who inspired
many a young mind To- higher work.
But now that the colleges have grown
and developed Into universities. with
thousands Of students. the same personal
touch as OF old is impossible. and Just
50 much has been lost that in III. olden
days made for scholarship Then, too.
the postgraduate schools which nave
sprung up at nearly all the leading
universities have largely taken unto
themselves scholarship Of a formal kind,
Their scmes;-rs and conferences, their
lectures and dissertations are overflow
ing with learning. The newly nedged
Il. y. enters. to come out in three
years a doctor OF philosophy. who will
go forth to instruct the youth Of the
land. And so I'm the graduate school
the college finds a rival of increasing
power in the realm Of scholarship.
AS a complement to the general low
ering of standards already mentioned
there Is prevalent a rising Indifference,
n want of care. At lack OF responsibility,
I'm minor matters this tendency shows
itself IN orders from stores incorrectly
filled, in booNs mlspagcd and misbound.
In the growing habit no longcrsto ac-
knowledge the receipt OF checks or inn
portant papers sent by mail unless such
an acknowledgment he formally de-
manded by the sender. From this ten
dency of the times the undergraduate
cannot make his escape IN fact, il Is
this tendency perhaps unknown to him
which renders him satisfied with e as
a gen;leman's mark-nut Il or \. which
should make for high stand and scholar
ship.
Let us now for a moment consider
the historical development Of the older
American College as typificd by five of
our larger northumberland, 1886
William and Mary's. 1898 Yale, 1901
Princeton, l7i6. and Columbia ,Klng's
COllege). 1884. They are all of English
origin and founded on fixed theological
principles. Three represented the Nom
conformist type. two represented the
Church e England. All We're intended
To train men for the learned professions,
especially for the ministry, in 80 far
as each graduate should Ice well edu-
Gated on classical lines ard should a"-
quire "A certain amount of scholarship
therefrom. Moreover. each one knew his
Bible thoroughly, was Ncrsed in the
English of the King James's version
an education in Itself in scholarly Eng
lish. as our English cousins to-day
fully understand. And the classics and
the Bible told, and they We're read in
those days. Proof IL the large num-
her of library editions Of the classics put
out between l72O and 1870 by English,
Scotch and French presses and sold in
This country. This method Of education
produced also on December Z, 1875, at
William and Mary's College in Williams
burg, Va. the society II Phi Beta
Kappa, which has given Us six Presl-
dents and numberless Senators, Repre-
sentutiVes, Judges and diplomats, This
collegiate system. doing well a thorough
wyrk on definite lines, Continued in force
unchanged up to 1870. when signs began
to appear which caused the upheaval
GS75-iSS0) already mentioned. This
marks the beginning OF the decline of
scholarship in the American college.
And now as to the future. what OF
scholarship at college" That there il a
decline in scholarship AT present IL self
evident, for the colleges themselves have
taken certain measures to remedy this
tendency. Several universities have at
tempted TO follow the oxford method Of
either "A pass degree or u degree with
huuDrs, the former to he awarded to "A
man who ikcs no pretencc To scholar
shin. tho latter rs n badge OF scholarship
TO "A man who has shown his ability and
his desire to be known as a scholar
| among mon. In England this method
has been IN use for many years and
,nurES tNa pputry AZ uuurt from tho