Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-02-26
THE GOWNSMAN
The UnlversIty's Dilemma

u Frost's in which he tells how, on wood
land walk, he came to the forking OF tne
paths and, even after he had made MS
| choice, was haunted by the probable superior
beauties of the way that he did not take.
So the gentlemen who reported with such SAD
reminiscence to the alumni Of the Univer.
sity of Pennsylvania at Wilmington last
week were haunted with tender recollec-
tions of ''the historic scholarly ideals OF ten
years ago" and by wraiths of what might
have been. The Gownsman will not insult
the past by maligning It; besides he mas
spent considerable of his time in 1t III his
day. But he does maintain that If you
are moving forward, there are difficulties,
| il not fall, in not keeping your face the
same way. The University has not 'drifted'
| into state aid nothing could have been more
| deliberate. Nor has il "fallen' after
| terrible struggle into the horrors OF mass
| education and mis- (s) education, to coin
| a word for those who appear to be so soreiy
tried in the contemplation Of men and women
| in the same classroom. All Of these terrible
| things have come about---a little hastily, we
may confess-because Pennsylvania has had
her face forward, because she is in struggle
| to adjust herself to the imperative demands
Of the times.
n
4 whatever is is right; the realization Of
how some men are Lodged in opinion both
politically and as TO the world to come
makes that quite impossible. But he does
think that no institution which has pro.
gressed can meet present conditions with
ideals already stalled in the hallowed recol-
lection Of ten years. Two things have come
to us in that time, and they have come to
stay. These are equal opportunities in life,
at the polls and in education for women
and secondly, au awakening in the minds
of many more than ever before this time of
sense of the power of education to better
materially and to uplift socially, intelec-
tually and spiritually as well. We cannot
meet these demands Of the age forever with
the un- American method Of foreign rail-
ways, providing separate compartments for
women and second class travelling coaches
for second class people. In a democracy
there are theoretically no second class
people; and il the pragmatist deny this and
say to you, There are" no sieve Of
gold has ever yet been invented to sift out
the incompetents. That sieve is Of iron.
THE Gownsman remembers that he blushed,
- very unnecessarily for the person con-
cerned, on one occasion, when he heard a
college president congratulate an institu
tion on the circumstance that of late larger
proportion of its students were coming from
households in which the annual income was
above $4,000 per annum. That was years
ago, and the president was n presidentrix.
Sounder is the position of President Neil
son of Smith College, who maintains that
the raising of the college tuition fee should
be the last resort either to raise money or
reduce numbers, because it destroys that
social diversity on terms of equality which
Is the very essence of our democratic
American college life. We need nothing in
America to emphasize class distinctions The
distinctions of scholarship cut across class
they demolish artificial barriers, but uphold
| those differences of character, culture and
conduct which are the true distinctions that
| count in the world.
| THE problems at the University are many.
| u Certain subjects are overcrowded because
| they deal in essentials which are being
neglected in too many Of our schools. Some
| departments are overcrowded because thes
| appeal-as it is perfectly natural that they
should appeal-to our American utilitaran
| spirit and are thronged by those who wish
| to better their chances Of a livelihood. And
| there are schools of the University which
are overcrowdcd because they have catered
to the crowd and find their justification in
| numbers. The medical school has strictly
! limited its student body to its equipment,
| and hence is not surpassed by any other part
| OF the University in efficiency. The classics
| remain uncrowded, owing to the trend OF
! our time; and one may now study German
or Sanskrit, for different reason.
unhustled. There was an audible smile the
other day at the Universty's celebration of