106 



r.Mliii iiiid <;rr('k ilcii v,it ivt's. wliicli rcciirnrcc tlic An^lo-S.-ixoii vofiiI)ul;ii-y liy :\ 

 wcMltli ol" words three times :is iire:it ;is lli.-it derived I'l-oiii llii' old Kii.s;lisli. 



W. (). 'I'lioiiipsoii. of Oliir), presented the following,' p.ipei-: 

 I )isciPLi NE — Student Control. 



The quest ion of colloKO discipline h:is .l)een debated ratlier vigorously for 

 thirty years. The cliangin.ir conditions within the colleges, as well as the chang- 

 ing ronditions in civic life, have made it certain that the college must meet 

 these new conditions. Some changes in disciiiline and in methods of student 

 control were manifestly imperative. Just what these changes should be was 

 from time to time the vexed (piestion. No one now doubts the wisdom of cer- 

 tain changes, nor is there any disjiositioii. if there were the ability, to return to 

 the former days. 



First of all, there was in the earlier college a ])rescribed course of study, 

 usually a dormitory system, an isolated location, where contact with very 

 tnucli of the world and its activities was difficult, and oftentimes a prejiaratory 

 school, which admitted boys in the early teens whose ])arents asl<ed for or 

 expected a supervision of ja-actically all the boy's habits. This last item was 

 much em])hasized in the minds of both the college and the patron. The college 

 was expected to turn out high-minded men. of religious conviction and of moral 

 worth. This confessedly high ideal was proclaimed not only as possiltle, but as 

 one of the constant aims of the college. The result was that many people be- 

 lievt'd in the colle.ge. not so much for any intellectual results, nor for any cul- 

 ture it secured, nor for any etticiency it produced in tht> student, nor for any 

 delinite scholarship, as for the s.u-ial. moral, siiiritual. and religious develop- 

 ment. People came to believe that the college was a good place to send almost 

 any boy because of these results. Accordingly the (piestions of discipline and 

 student control were always important. The college must meet these in a 

 satisfactory way or face the danger of losing its hold upon popular favor. 

 Under this' order (jf things. there grew up certain customs, beliefs, and ideals 

 that have continued to this day in the minds of many people. Students housed 

 in dormitories and kept tuider the constant supervision of tutors, preceptors, 

 and other oliicials. who were guardians of both morals and daily habits, came 

 to believe that college pranks and student disorder were part of college life. 

 They saw no inconsistency between the most fervid religious profession and the 

 meanest of college jjranks. There grew up the belief that students should not 

 be expected lo conform to the ordinary laws of conduct. The law of the land 

 was intended for citizens, but not for students. They were still under some sort 

 of a family government with which the State should not' interfere. The old tra- 

 dition of the town and the .gown is a renuiant of this college insanity. No stu- 

 dent had any civic responsibility, and therefore no civic morality. Most of us 

 have heard i>rotests against disciiiline when college authorities held students to 

 anything like the conunon standards among citizens. Nearly every college in 

 the land, especially among the older ones, has suffered damage to or destruc- 

 tion of college i>roperty at the hands of students in obedience to traditions 

 handed down from yi'ar to year. Moreover, these things were accepted as a 

 matter of <-our.se by sttidents, faculties, and the community. It has taken us 

 long, weary years to grow out of these traditions and to secure practically 

 unanimous Consent to the truth that students should be held to a strict accoinit 

 for conduct and should be held by the same ideals as the ordinary citizen. The 

 develoiiment of the jmlilic school did much to change our tiiinking and our 

 standards. No board of education would trifle with i>ui)ils destroying or muti- 

 lating i>roi)ert.v as the college authorities have done. Accordingly we have 

 deveioiied a grouji of Itoys and girls in our i)ui)lic schools that are a little more 

 sane on (piestions of civic morality than the old-fashioned student. When all 

 our <-olleges aband<in their pi-e]':ii':dory schools the iiroblems of discipline will 

 be cleared ui» and the standard of student life elevated. 



The State universities have also made a distinct contrii)Ution to the residts 

 now en.ioyed. As a rule these institutions regarded themselves as a part of the 

 public facilities for education in an imiK)rtant sense, bound to pay respect to 

 the public schools in the several ("onnnonwealtlis. In the main tlie.v were with- 

 out dormitories. The demand for the t.vjK' of education provided at these 

 institutions was so great that legislatur«'s were kejit busy in apiiroitriating 

 money for edu<'ation rather than for a means of living. I'.eing without dormi- 

 tories in the main it be<-:ime necessary for these universities to emphasize to 



