USA > Ohio > Wayne County > History of Wayne County, Ohio, Volume I > Part 55
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7. As compared with other institutions of its own grade Wooster's cus- toms concerning vacations and holidays may be styled progressive. The uni- versity has chosen the shorter period for the college year, and acknowledges every legal holiday by suspending all class exercises. After repeated endeav- ors to "improve" these holidays nothing is now done collectively except in con- nection with the ecclesiastical holiday-the "Day of Prayer for Colleges." In
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addition to the former privileges recent custom seems to have established the elimination of two more days from the working plan, viz: "College Day" and the "Friday after Thanksgiving."
8. The question of dramatic representation, with or without the use of costumes and stage accessories, was for some years agitated. It reached its crisis in connection with class-day exercises in 1897. The board's decision seemed to favor a "more liberal policy," but the synod of that year congratu- lated the institution on having "avoided complicity with the theatre." A subsequent action of the board, waiving discussion, expressed "approval of the action of the faculty in the matter relegated to it by the decision of the synod," and hoped that "the faculty may be united in maintaining the university's high standing as to the subject-matter of this part of their report." The faculty subsequently (I think in 1899) took action of a different character and for the last decade dramatic representations have been freely employed by the classes and literary societies under supervision of a "Committee on Public Occasion." No objection has been made, so far as known to the writer, either by the trustees or the synod and the policy of the institution would seem to have been permanently changed in the liberal direction.
9. Physical culture has been growing in favor as an essential in a full- orbed education for many years-especially as the English-speaking world has come to realize the beneficial effects of Father Jahn's Turuexercise in Germany. The gymnasium came to be a marked feature in college equipment. It was realized for Wooster in 1872 so far as the building was concerned. In 1873-4 the furniture was added and work begun. The board recognized this as an "occasion of marked interest in the progress of the university" and the students expected good results from the practice and instruction. The out-door sports seemed to be arranging themselves in a natural and easy manner. But there began to be felt the pressure for intercollegiate and competitive games with organized teams and the accompanying enthusiasm. The existing executive tried dissuasion, but in vain. The requisite permission was given by the faculty and the experiment begun. In the Commencement Reporter of June. 1888, large headlines proclaim the success of the intercollegiate system : "Wooster Downs the Other Colleges" was conspicuously printed. The trial term's success and the "determined stand taken by the students during the win- ter term" had been the means of "arousing a college-spirit to which Wooster has been long unaccustomed." The students "realized the necessity of such contests as a stimulus to athletics in general and as foci on which could be con- centrated the attention and interest of the boys as students of the same college. pitting their strength and skill against those of other colleges. Our faculty
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evinced a ready spirit to enter in and give the matter a fair test. What has been the result? Can any one doubt that the experiment has been crowned with success?" It is declared that Wooster had probably the champion college-team of the state and that "no noticeable detriment" had come to intellectual work, but rather the contrary. "Above all there has been infused through the college the belief that there is something complete and permanent in the ties that bind the students to their Alma Mater, that as en- thusiastic upholders of the university we are to meet and vanquish, if possible, all competitors on the oratorical platform and on the athletic field, that when we have long severed our relations to college life we will find our memories clinging around our hard-fought struggles as salient points in the routine of our student-life." Assurance is felt that the faculty will "enlarge the privi- . leges of the athletic association. And on the students' side it can be pledged that the privileges granted will be used cautiously and honorably."
Thus commenced what in college parlance is called "Athletics," in the University of Wooster. But difficulties arose and faculty conditions were not always respected. In 1890 the board of trustees appointed a committee "to study the whole subject of intercollegiate athletics and report next year." In June, 1891, that committee reported and asked to be discharged "in view of the fact that intercollegiate athletic contests, so far as this university is con- cerned, have been abolished by the faculty." Further action at the same meet- ing is recorded as follows: "Recognizing the value of physical culture and encouraging all proper methods of promoting it in connection with mental training, we yet approve of the action of the faculty in regard to intercolle- giate athletic contests, because of the loss of time and of interest in study and the danger of demoralization involved in them."
Discontent with this decision was expressed variously, but there seemed reason to believe that Wooster's conservative constituency thought the struggle worth while, and acquiescence seemed to be gaining for some years. The gymnasium was improved and an athletic field provided just beside it ( for inter-class games of all kinds) at considerable expense and the sacrifice of about one hundred fine specimens of that "grove of native oaks" which the catalogues, for so long a period, never forgot to mention.
In 1895 the synod met at Wooster and urgent petitions were presented, but that body sustained the faculty and trustees. In June, 1897, the board adopted the report of a committee which, after mentioning certain gratifying circumstances, contained this sentence: "The commotion over intercollegiate games has subsided and the question may be regarded as satisfactorily and safely settled."
But during the winter of 1899-1900 the faculty reversed this finding and
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the board in June, 1900, recorded the following minute: "The action of the faculty in annulling the prohibition of intercollegiate games and the measures taken by them to so regulate the sports as to keep both the plays and the play- ers within due bounds, and in conformity with the aims and purposes of a Christian university, is commended and approved." Financial aid was granted in 1901 and 1902 and an addition made to the incidental fee in order to meet the increasing expenses of the intercollegiate system. The board. in 1902. considers the "present method of guarding and guiding the athletic interests of the university" as "wisely devised and successfully administered. The growth of interest in this subject seems to be, on the whole, in a healthful direc- tion." Further and larger grants in aid have since been made and a report is regularly presented to the synod as to the year's history on the arena ; and at- tention is called to the endeavor to secure a fair class-standing for those who compose the teams.
A comparatively recent order restores gymnastic enrollment, examina- tions, and practice to a proportion of attention more just to their fundamental importance. Regular class-work is required from November first to May 15th. Great care has been taken in connection with the competitive games, to encourage clean play and courtesy toward opponents. And no Thanks- giving Day contests have been permitted. Per contra, it cannot be doubted that with a considerable number of students and in all colleges of the land. the relative importance attached to athletics is disproportionate ; that the system is artificial enough to create a new group of expenses-the more undesirable because the legitimate expenditures of the college and of the student continue to increase. Nor can it be denied that ameliorations of certain objectionable (not to say brutal) conditions of the game of foremost interest have not been made by the faculties and trustees of our colleges (too many of whom apologized for and accepted these conditions) except in response to convic- tions and demands of a public not under the influence of the glamour which college-relations have thrown about these fierce competitions.
IO. The question of fraternities (including sororities) has produced in many institutions of higher learning (and recently in secondary schools) con- siderable agitation. Some institutions foster them and claim to find them beneficial. Others, as the United Presbyterian, Westminster, Oberlin and Princeton, have excluded them and evince no disposition to introduce them. They do not exist in the Roman Catholic colleges, as far as I know. They do not much resemble the different "corps" of a German university. In Wooster they were formed, five of them, in the first administration ( 1871-3). Others have been founded later. No detailed history can be attempted here. (35)
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But opposition seemed to develop at once. The record of June, 1873. shows that "a petition of fourteen alumni to suppress secret societies was pre- sented by Doctor Taylor and was referred to a committee." That committee's report was unanimously adopted, as follows: "This board agrees with the general sentiments of the petitioners in regard to the workings of college fra- ternities, but does not at present see the way clear to enact any prohibitory statute on the subject. We refer the whole matter to the deliberate considera- tion of the faculty and recommend that-as a faculty-they open a friendly correspondence with the faculties of other universities and colleges, with a view to regulating and, if possible, suppressing them." In June, 1876, Doc- tor Taylor reported a petition from members of the preparatory department for abolition of secret societies in the university. After discussion a com- mittee reported a minute "in accordance with the spirit of the discussion." It reads thus : "While the board does not deem it necessary to enact a prohibi- tory ordinance, they are constrained to give it as their deliberate judgment, drawn both from experience and observation, that secret societies in colleges are of no permanent advantage but a positive injury. They distract attention from legitimate literary duties, cultivate a spirit of insubordination, produce alienations among students and are a waste of time, money and energy. We therefore earnestly advise the students of the university to refrain from any connection with these fraternities, and the president is hereby requested to make known this judgment of the board at the opening of each collegiate year." The subject came again under consideration in June, 1889. Recognizing the fact that "great prudence and sagacity are required in dealing with questions arising out of the relations of Greek fraternities to the university," the board resolves "that a committee of three be appointed to study the whole subject, to report at the next meeting and that the faculty be requested to consider whether any arrangement can be made by which the meetings of fraternities can be held in rooms of the university building and the other places of meet- ing abandoned." This committee reported progress a year later and was con- tinued. There was also continuance in 1891 and in 1892. In 1893, the long expected report was presented upon the basis of a very large correspondence. It was discussed carefully but not placed upon the records. Its recommenda- tion that "no action be taken at this time" was adopted. The impression left by the discussion was that the mind of the board was still unchanged as to the desirability of fraternities, but unwilling to encounter the difficulties in the way of their removal. The supervision of them was committed to the faculty and in 1894 a resolution was passed "that the rules adopted by the faculty in relation to the use of the halls of the university, including the fra-
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ternity halls, are approved and the same should be kindly but firmly enforced." Further faculty action requiring initiations to be confined to the fraternity halls and nothing done in such ceremonies which would expose the candidate to bodily injury or demand anything inconsistent with his self-respect, was subsequently taken.
Owing to various circumstances the whole question was again very care- fully studied by the faculty in the spring of 1908. By a small majority that body voted to allow matters to stand as they were, but refused to approve fur- ther multiplication of the fraternal organizations or the final establishment of chapter-houses. Appeal was made by a committee representing a large num- ber of alumni, to the board of trustees. The result was thus recorded : "That the board of trustees looks upon the Greek-letter fraternities in Woos- ter as organizations whose general purposes and character are in harmony with the aims and spirit of the university and favors their continuance and extension under proper supervision by this board." A committee was also appointed which reported in February, 1909. A delegation representing an inter-fraternal committee was also heard. Permanent chapter-houses were permitted. Rules were established covering eligibility, initiation and its fees, class standing of 80 to be maintained by students in chapter-houses, and notifi- cation to the dean of all initiated members. The chapter-houses are always to be open to visitation by the university authorities. These rules were sup- plemented in June, 1909, placing the location of the chapter-houses in the hands of the board of trustees and restricting invitations to eligibles shown to be such by a certificate from the dean. This apparently final settlement was, however, brought into question by the offer of an ever-generous patron of the university conditioning a liberal subscription to much-desired buildings, upon the ultimate, final exclusion of the secret societies. Action upon this proposal at the June ( 1910) meeting of the board was postponed at the sug- gestion of its author, who was absent from the country at the time. As a matter of justice two petitioning associations which had taken "important and expensive steps" under the action of 1908, were allowed. Within the last few years four organizations have been authorized, of which two are resusci- tations of formerly existing fraternities. Whether the oscillating pendulum has finally reached its point of rest, it remains for the future to disclose.
II. In so young an institution in a Western state, and on a Christian foundation, which is essentially a democratic one, it was not to be expected that class distinctions and disturbances would find lodgment in Wooster. Real hazing has never known tolerance here. The first president seems to have given it the coup de grace when it made a first appearance. He denounced its
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unfairness and its cowardice and even counseled, it is reported, the exercise of the reserved right of self-defense to any needed extent. "Class spirit" has sometimes sought the rough way of expression and now and then some "rushes" have occurred. But here again the good sense of the student-body and a determined stand taken by the faculty has freed Wooster from disgrace - ful scenes such as were witnessed this very month in some of our Ohio and Western colleges and universities. The principle announced here has been that of the entire liberty of any class to adopt and wear in peace any cap or cane, or other class insignia its fancy might dictate. The "cross-country" connection between Juniors and Freshmen, Seniors and Sophomores has been domesticated here, but finds expression only in banquets. "Upper-class men" is a phrase sometimes used, but means little in the real life of the university. The capped and gowned seniors are paid some special attention on one or two special occasions and in being waited for in retiring from daily chapel. Plain- ness and sincerity go well together and all artificial distinctions seem inap- propriate in presence of the Wooster ideal, viz., that all estimates which are worth while are based on character and conduct.
12. When we come to discipline, it is manifest that Wooster has found support against the foreign university standard of irresponsibility for the moral character and conduct of students-a standard far too closely approxi- mated in some of America's larger universities and technical schools, in at least three things-(1) the original and distinctively Christian purpose in which the institution originated: (2) its vital connection with a denomination as distinguished for its ethical as for its doctrinal standards; and (3) by its carefully maintained connection with the Christian homes from which the large majority of our students have come. Parental co-operation has always been sought by the report system and by special correspondence. The effort is unceasingly made to cultivate in every student an intense loyalty to the home he represents. The old in loco parentis idea may have been modified in some of its applications but it has never for a moment been abandoned. Naturally the discipline has been both firm and kindly, and the result has been that the current of the university's life has been almost uninterruptedly placid. The close of the first year ( 1871) brought special expression by the board of trustees of "gratification at the good order, industry, and honorable conduct which has marked the first college year." It was found necessary to have distinct rules, of course, but these seem to have appeared for the first time in 1875. All immoralities, including profanity, were considered disciplinable offenses. Saloons were not to be visited, nor were amusement rooms which had saloon attachments to be entered, nor was intoxicating liquor to be taken
.
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to or kept in the room of any student. Public dances were not to be frequented. Special permission is required for leaving the city to attend conventions of any kind or to accompany an athletic team, and in granting such leave the student's class standing and the wishes of his parents are taken into account. The so- called "honor" system for examinations has not been adopted-greater re- liance having been placed upon Christian conscience. In a notable case in 1900 it was finally stated in the college paper: "The sentiment of peace and submission to the judgment of the faculty has been gaining among the stu- dents."
Naturally when forms of self-government appeared in general college life they could be appropriately experimented with in such a college community as that of Wooster. For several years house-committees in the dormitories for young women have been established and more recently ( 1908) a student senate has been installed. It is well understood that these bodies are ancillary and complimentary and that the faculty still holds itself responsible to the board, the synod and the constituency of the university for the proper over- sight of the interior life of the college community.
13. It would seem almost superfluous to mention co-education in con- nection with Wooster's history. At his inauguration the first president (Dr. Lord) thanked the founders that they had adopted the plan, and gave it not only a hearty approval but devoted a substantial portion of the inaugural to an argument in its behalf grounded upon the most fundamental considerations of human equality in all conditions, oneness of all in Christ and essential simi- larity of mental endowments. He rejects with considerable feeling, the in- timation that the presence of women would "prove a disturbing element, un- friendly to mental concentration, and also to the vigor and efficiency of aca- demic government." He asserts with confidence that it would, on the con- trary, "give powerful impulsion to mental activity and progress." He avows it as his conviction that "womanly presence in our colleges and universities will conserve order, increase decorum, and in every way cherish manliness, honor, truth and right." The eloquent address is even prophetic. "Present- ly young women will be trained, like young men, for our college and uni- versity courses, and will then resort, in increasing numbers, to these higher in- stitutions. In that day let the young men look to their laurels. Many a time it will happen that quick, keen, flashing womanly minds will work out most brilliantly the hardest problems, and delicate, womanly hands seize upon and bear off in triumph the most coveted prizes."
The policy, thus early adopted and approved, was reasserted in the cata- logue of 1873-4 thus : "Co-education has proven decidedly successful, the num-
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ber of young ladies in attendance having steadily increased, and their relative standing in the classes proving their entire ability, in all respects, to master the difficulties of the college course." Doctor Taylor (writing about 1878 in Douglas' History of Wayne County) says of the young women of Wooster : "They are prepared for teachers or for an adequate appreciation of literature, science and life in general, and are enabled to reason for themselves and act with superior judgment, moving without embarrassment in the most culti- vated society and fitted to adorn the highest walks in social life." Forty years of experience have only accented the accuracy of these assertions. It might be surprising to some people if the records of these later years were examined to note the number of instances in which the "honors" have gone to those "quick, flashing womanly minds" which President Lord foresaw. Co-educa- tion prevails in thirty-nine out of the fifty-three colleges which are recognized as, in one degree or another, attached to the Presbyterian faith and order.
There has inevitably arisen the social question, however, and the tempta- tion to excessive engagement in various social activities. But this yields to sensible rules founded upon the usages of good society and restricting social privileges only in the degree necessary to secure the quiet which conditions at the same time health and success in meeting the requirements of the curriculum.
14. It would be of interest and value if a study of the expenses ac- companying an education at Wooster could be made. The original purpose included, beyond doubt, the "plain living" as well as the "high thinking." be- cause Wooster was designed for efficiency in connection with the rank and file of its first, though not its only, constituency-the Presbyterians of Ohio. But that study is now impossible for this sketch. Suffice it to say that it has been steadily endeavored to hold the university, with all its increasing advantages, open to those of limited means and to those who must provide for themselves. From these classes have come the vast majority of Wooster's students and from among them have emerged those by whom its records are most adorned. The students have never paid the entire expense of their education, of course, and the most liberal arrangements have been made in aid of various classes of students. While expenses have increased it cannot be said that this increase has been in proportion to the additional advantages offered or beyond the un- avoidable increment due to higher prices in all departments of life. This reasonable adjustment, it is hoped, will be maintained, since nothing in splendor of equipment could compensate the university for a loss of accessibility to those of whom we may speak as "the middle class," the "bone and sinew" of every democracy.
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15. There remains but one thing more in this miscellany and that may be styled the department of propaganda, which has been inaugurated in the administrative offices. The resources of ingenious statement, adapted to many classes and communities, have been taxed for the presentation of Woos- ter's claims to consideration, patronage and contributions. Space will per- mit the quotation of only a few titles, such as : "Why Go to College?" "Why Go to the University of Wooster?" "Education from the Christian Point of View"; "Why Should the Denominational College Live?"-which query is an- swered in twenty-two brief sentence suggestions: "From Farm to College"; "An Ideal Place for Self-Discovery," are other titles in this most persuasive literature. It unfolds the lines of opportunity in modern education and the demands these create which an institution of the first class-Wooster's class- must prepare to meet. It is a literature full of information, stimulus and broad outlook. It demonstrates plainly with what ease and certainty our constituency-aided by friends of education everywhere-can build upon the ample foundations laid by forty years of experience and the marvelous de- velopment of the fourth decade. May it penetrate homes and hearts without number.
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