Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-05-22
OLD-TIME RELIGION
:. 4. GAMBLER

measurable damage is being done by ath-
letics to the youth of the nation. For such.
injury to minds and morals INTERCOLLEGIATE
sports do not supply physical dement's
as an Offset On the contrary, wounds,
bruises mamings, and deaths among the
players are of common occurrence, ana LOT
the rest of the students beneficial eXer-
else whatever is offered
Commenting upon the report of President
Pritchett the New York Times, in y1gor-
Gus, editorial, says:
THAT the tendency in colleges to enshrlne
athletics and look upon gate receipts as
measure of prestige is an evil requiring the
attention of the alumni we'll as the aca-
demic authorities is established in report
of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advance
ment of Teaching. The idea has often been
put forward But the Carnegie Foundatloh
has made a careful survey. Among the con-
|ditions reported commerclallsm ana the
habit of gambling on sporting events, eX-
cessiye expenditure of funds, too great an
on turning out winning teams
over emphasis on sports, ana tenuehcy 10
use a good athletic record as a means of ad-
vertising the institution i'll the nope OF at
tracing money and probable stars
''That all these conditions exist in every
in stitution is unlikely. But the report sug-
gests one tendency, at least, whlch IS Iouho
almost universally. This is that the oelnca-
ton of athletics, which, in fact, is form OF
hero Worship innocent enough IN itself,
tends toward the development of few stars
at the expense of the mass OF students. IL
is safe to say that were the emphasis Oh
athletics to result in a better ali-arouho pny
steal development Of as many studehIs aa
possible; it could be better defended. but
the present system does everything TOT the
team and only a little for the dub, whereas
it is those who are physically backward VINO
in reality could profit most from proper ue-
yotion to athletics.
The editor of the Times might have gone
I
tion of athletics" has dethroned the intel
lectual ideals of college life by making ne
roes of athletes and depreclatlhg Tue
achievements of studious young men. Inc
debating societies, in which young men once
stroye for mastery, have fallen into desue-
tude while the contests of the ball field
have become the supreme concern or stu
dent life The arena of intellectual coupe
titions has become oYershadoWed by the AN
phitheater of brutal and brutallzlng physlcal
combats.
# is evident that the most wise and emf
nent educators have grown weary OF these
intolerable conditions; but they are unable
to secure by their own efforts the dellV-
erance which they desire. Mlsguloeo alumni
newspapers, and spectacle-loVlng populace
withstand them. They need ana shoulu nav
effective assistance from without. 10 their
assistance should come the legislative BODIES
of states and churches.
There are some encouraging signs that
such support will come to them soon.
At the last session of the Educational AS
sociation of the Methodist Eplscopal Church
South most decided action was taken from
which the following paragraphs are eA-
tracted:
1--WE pledge the moral support of the Edu-
cational association to any and every educd-
tional institution whose faculty assumes tull
direction and control of all athletics, bel1ev-
ing that this is the minimum that can pc
done toward the eradication of evils ana the
conservation of the values in college atm
letcs.
sThrough the officers of our Educational
association we issue an invitation TO the
other constituent members of the Councn OF
Church Schools of the South to join with us
in definite determination to cleanse our
athletic situation of its Well-knoWn ana IN
tolerable evils Should our efforts to rem
edy the situation fail, within reasonable
time we register our conviction that the col
leges of the church must honestly lace the
question whether they can continue 10 par
ticipate in a situation that works moral IN
iurv TO our students, in view of the right
e0us purpose for which our coHeses anu
schools were created.
This emphatic deliverance has not been
made too soon.
The American people are paying too much
for education to allow their efforts and eX-
penditlres to be defeated by the unques-
tionable abuses Of intercollegiate athletics
set forth so clearly and concluslvely in the
report of the president of the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teach
ing.
These abuses are shedding throughout our
entire educat ional system, from the gram
mar schools to the colleges, a most PERM
cious influence.
Our educational institutions must be
rescued from the grip Of gamesters and
gamblers and restored to the high ends OF
mental development and moral culture for
the attainment Of which they were estab-
lished and are maintained.
Our educators should receive speedily the
deliverance required for the success of their
efforts on behalf Of the intellectual advance
ment and moral character of the youth OF
the ma atom.