Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-01-14
CLASS RUSHES
AT PENN WILL
BE ABOLISHED
Recent Accident at the Bowl
Fight Has Had Great
Effect
INTEREST IS Tagging
By EDWARD R. BUSHNELL

By EDWARD R. BUSHNELL
II is taken for granted that there will
| be no more bowl fights at the University
! of Pennsylvania, following the fatal acct.
| dent on Wednesday. Likewise the fresh
man and sophomore classes may be eX-
! pected to abolish all forms of class rushes.
Now the sentiment is running strongly
toward the substitution of interclass ath-
letlcs for the various rusheS that have
featured the first half of the present
academic year. 1t is a curious fact that
within the last decade while the first and
second-yea men at Pennsylvania have
featured more and more the Importance
of their various rushes and class nights
the interest in the interclass football
baseball, track and rowing contests for
the Deans trophy has been rcceding.
Game Called OF
Within the last few years a good many
of these dual meetings have gone by de-
fault. whereas they should have been
capable of Just as much interest and
whole lot more good than the bowl fight.
Only this fall the annual football game
between the two classes had TO be called
off because there was not enough interest
in ii among the players The same tate
has befallen many OF the other class
sports, so that today the students agree
that interclass sports for the Deans tro-
ply are a failure
The best way to make the two classes
revive these competitions Is for the upper
classes to take as much interest in them
as the freshmen and sophomores have
taken to make sure that no eligible MEM
ber of their classes lodges participation
in the bowl fight. So keen has been the
spirit of class rivalry that more than one
student has been branded a "quitter' for
most of his college course for refusing to
take part in the bowl fight.
The time Is now ripe for the upper
classes to lend their influence to the
movement. even to insist. that the fresh
men and sophomore classes shall hold
their interclass contests every year in at
least the four major sports of football,
baseball, rowing and track. 1t is through
these sports that the first and second
year men get their class numerals, and If
this is not incentive enough TO make
them participate something else should
be done.
Interclass Contests
The surest way 10 secure the revival
of these interclass athletic contests is for
the undergraduate committee, which has
Jurisdiction over such matters. TO take
the initiative and even set dates for inter-
class meetings In all such sports.
1t would be most unfortunate II the two
classes should be permitted to arrange
other nonathetic forms of contest as
substitutes for the class rushes. Not
only should this rivalry be restricted to
supervised athletics. but 1t should be ex-
tended TO all the classes.
A dozen years ago there were interclass
contests in all the major sports which
aroused not only the University but
the public as well. There was a round
robin tournament in football, baseball
and rowing and big meet in track sports,
Their revival now would be a good thing
for the students and splendid thing for
all university sports.