The New York herald., 1922-10-01

speech.
BY ERNEST MARTIN HOPKINS
IL. D., President of Dartmouth
College.
T@HE opening of the college year
with its attendant assembling
= of upper class men for the
continuation of their courses and the
incoming Of hundreds of men. new to
college environment and to college
work. is fitting time for recaDitulation
and reiteration of the college purpose
For the individual Undergraduate
the question of differentiation be-
gins at this period to assume greatly
Increased Importance, both because oi
the stage of his advance toward ma
turity and because of the particular
conditions of college life, wherein the
responsibility is constantly thrust up
on him for making decisions. Many
of these decisions, under superficial
guise of merely temporary conse-
quence, as a matter of fact are
destined TO be significant TO all sub
seQuent phases of his life.
It is at this point, perhaps, that
the college fails most definitely. II
has not found any sufficient way to
make evident to its men the enduring
influence upon later career of even
minor details of daily life through
their influence in forming habit. II
does not carry conviction to under
graduates in emphasizing the inn
portance of cultivating those qualities
which make for self directed lives oi
purpose and strength, rather than OF
allowing those habits of inertia and
indifference to become fastened upon
us. which merely in being tolerated
become more fixed each day.
1t is at this point, likewise, that the
undergraduate remains most 'oblivious
or his own best interests. The proc
esses helpful to acquiring mental
strength and moral fortitude are al
least as important and as rigorous as
those required for gaining muscular
strength and physical resistance
Nevertheless, it is to be doubted i!
the coaches and trainers Of our ath-
letic teams would be willing to trust
solely to suddenly acquired desire to
compete or to a sudden burst of en-.
thusiasm on the part of individual mer
as justification for relying upon them
in intercollegiate contests. And yet
the intelligence, the endurance, the
consciousness of power. and the viii
10 do. required in even the greatest oi
athletic contests does not exceed what
is daily and hourly required of the
man who goes forth from the college
to compete with adverse circumstance:
in the struggle TO make his life of con-
sequence. useful to society and salts
flying to his own aspirations
Shall we not then keep in mind the
reason for our undertaking the course
upon which to-day we set out and
shall we not preserve or cultivate re-
spect for the proved canons of train
ing?
Students Must Decide
Which Interests Are Vital
The great question in college life is
at what point we are going to apply
ourselves and the degree of devotion
with which we are willing TO commit
ourselves to the different interests
which will attract our attention. There
is on the boards in London at the
present time a play written by Mr.
Galswortby entitled "Loyalties" which
night after night draws capacity
houses 1t presents for consideration
in form of the drama the confusion
worked in the human mind by tho
cross purposes of conflicting loyaltie:
OF various sorts. respectively stimu.
lated or repressed by such factors al
instinct, desire. racial prejudice. clas:
feeling. professional caste family tie:
or interest in abstract justice.
There is no greater problem in lif,
than that OF the authenticity OF tn,
ideas which we hold or of those which
we are disposed to accept as our own
There Is no greater necessity upon the
college than that II shall proclaim tn,
existence of this problem TO the in
dividual man within it's halls, that h'
may be impelled to seek knowledg'
and command OF mental processes
wherewith to define for himself th'
desirable loyalties and that he may
be Influenced to cultivate the will e
pledge himself and all his works
wholeheartedly to these.
The college cannot do this for him
All that the college can do is to main
tain an atmosphere or TO create ar
influence which will be helpful TO such
ends for those men who seek to es.
tablish contact with the real purpose
OF the college. II can neither be en-
phasized too strongly nor too fire.
uuentiy that a college course does not
of itself necessarily do away with ig-
norance, eliminate bigotry or diminish
partisanship. even In the case OF
many a man who seemingly fulfills
all the requirements Of the college
The most that can justifiably bc
claimed is that the college processes
rightly accepted and properly utilized
make IL somewhat more feasible foi
The individual man to do these things
inteIligently for himself than would be
the case otherwise.
Incidentally. II may be observed
that within the college life itself. here
and now, there are the calls of con-
fIcting loyalties, none unworthy ir
themselves but each susceptible to ap.
nxsai as TO it's relative worth in re.
icon 60 the others. To men gen.
timely bewildered among these this
assurance can be held out-that th'
relsdiscipline of serious effort to de
eide intelligently which nc loyal
ties are of major impoi ,dnce and
which are of minor Will probably be