Evening star., 1923-01-29

Dean Briggs introduced his criti-
ciSm of the agreemsnt with refer
ence to the conditions. out of which
1t grew.
Cites Action mt Princeton.
The evils of substituting athletes
were illustrated last year" he said
"by discoveries which led the au-
thorities at Princeton to disqualify
several of their best known and most
skillful players. The dlsquallhcatloh'
already determined at Princeton by
Princeton alone. was promptly re-
ported TO the committee of the three
chairmen. Like every other act of the
kind, it was assailed as unjust by
those who did not know the circum-
stances, and it gave rise, naturally
enough, to new ssuspicions regarding
the athletes of Yale and Harvard.
Every athlete named by anybody to
the Harvard committee as suspected
of receiving illegitimate aid was
looked up as carefully as clrcum
stances permitted. Brief reports OF
the financial resources of prominent
athletes at Yale and Harvard were
submitted by the Yale and Harvard
chairmen, respectively, to the COM
mittce of the three chairmen ana
were amicably discussed; 1t Is too
much to suppose that all suspicious
were aIlayed. but no case calling for
disqualification was discovered"
How far PROSECUTING has gone
among college athletes" the report
continues, may be inferred from the
attention paid in recent discussions
to students who have moved from
one college to another and who are
designated by the MISUNDERSTANDING
name of tramp athletes At
Harvard the proportion OF athletes
among the transferred students is
said to be less than the proportion
among students who come straight
from schools to the freshman class.
IT is in schools rather than in col
leges that the chief danger of IL
ing can check this propaganda but
observation-disclosures among under grad
yates and alumni. Speaking always
with the knowledge that something
scandalous may be unearthed at any
moment, I nevertheless know that
this right -mindedness has been great
ly increased in the last thirty-five
years. Indeed, there is serious
danger Of discrimination against the
athlete. The questions that we ask
him would be insolently personal If
it We're possible, as a schoolmaster
once said. to treat an athlete like
an ordinary decent citizen Nor is
the athlete permitted, unchallenged,
to receive such aid as a non athletic
youth, who may not have half his
Intelligence or strength of character.
might go on receiving undisturbed
for years At Harvard the danger
of proselyting in schools in now
slight The true danger is eagerness
to help an athlete already in COL
lege.
Cannot Be Permanent.
Though the athletic situation last
wear seemed to force on the commit
tees at Princeton, Yale and Harvard
the financial inquiSition of which L
am writing, and in the responsibility
of which 1 share. such method can
not be permanent. and indeed cannot
be used at all, without danger to the
very foundation of sportsmanship.
Ultimately the information received
by the committee depends in most
cases on the players word. There is
no questionnaire that dishonest man
cannot circumvent. Eventually the
QUESTIONABLE based on universal dis
trust will defeat its own end. II the
college office should~trea every stu
dent as a suspect it would stimulate
in the student generally a desire to
circumvent 1t. and would destroy that
frank and friendly intercourse on
which it's efficiency depends. Can a
committee on athletics with a similar
policy escape a similar fate? l look
for the time when Harvard, Yale and
Princeton shall say to one another,
need know nothing more about the
legitimacy OF your players than is
implied by your willingness that they
should represent you Then, and not
until then, shall we be Sportsmen."
Referring to competition for man
agerships. Dean Briggs said:
1.-THE findings of a faculty commit
tee which had talked informally and
freely with representative students
confirmed everybody's suspicion that
candidates for managerships often
damaged themselves by unintelligent
use Of their time, damaged players
by servile attentions and damaged
sport by such shirking of their col
lege duties as gave it a bad name.
For an athlete to drop his clothes on
the floor and expect q manager to
pick them up and put them in the
locker is not good either for him or
the manager"