Decemdek 10, 190n] 



SCIENCE 



845 



complete college "' solidarity " belongs to the 

 old order and that we shall now have to be 

 content with the intellectual and social co- 

 hesion of groups of students. The effective- 

 ness of the method he has suggested for reach- 

 ing this end is, moreover, reasonably sure. 

 That the segregation of the freshman in class 

 dormitories and dining halls would result in 

 an intensification of class spirit is patent. A 

 class thus centralized and made aware of itself 

 during its first year, would inevitably gain 

 something of social unity and identity. But 

 would the gain be worth the cost to the col- 

 lege and to the. individual? 



In calling attention to the great educative 

 value of intercourse between classmates far 

 called from all the corners of the country or 

 of the world, Cardinal Newman noted, over 

 half a hundred years ago, that this was not 

 due entirely to the students of the university, 

 but was largely dependent upon the genius 

 loci. " Independent of direct instruction on 

 the part of superiors," he said in the sixth dis- 

 course in " Idea of a University," " there is a 

 sort of self-education in the academic institu- 

 tions of protestant England; a characteristic 

 tone of thought, a recognized standard of 

 judgment, is found in them, which, as developed 

 in the individual who is submitted to it, be- 

 comes a two-fold source of strength to him, 

 both from the distinct stamp it impresses on 

 his mind, and from the bond of union which 

 it creates between him and others." In sev- 

 eral of our American colleges such a spirit is 

 already appreciable, and it is a recognition of 

 its value that influences men and women to 

 send their sons and daughters across the con- 

 tinent, if need be, to our long-established 

 colleges when there are colleges at their doors 

 offering similar academic courses under the 

 direction of men of the highest scholarship, 

 when economy and family affection, and all 

 tangible arguments are in favor of the home 

 college. It is for this that sons are dedicated 

 from their birth to Yale or Harvard, and 

 daughters to Vassar or Wellesley, irrespective 

 of transient administrative policy or the in- 

 dividual members of the teaching force. This 

 subtle but precious power is imperiled by the 



segregation of the freshman class. If succes- 

 sive incoming classes acquire solidity before 

 they have been subject to the atmosphere of 

 the institution, while they are yet unaware of 

 its standards and traditions, they must soon 

 become incapable of transmitting or respond- 

 ing to the cultivating influence of what is 

 now considered the permanent and inherent 

 spirit of the place, but which must be radically 

 changed in the course of a few college genera- 

 tions whose classes crystallized in the freshman 

 year. To make more effective the influence of 

 this fine, esoteric force in the college world is 

 the real object of gaining solidarity, and if it 

 be lost our solidarity will be to little purpose. 



Nor is this the only objection to the segre- 

 gation of the freshmen. Inexcusable as the 

 practise of hazing seems, it is not with its 

 purpose that we quarrel. No one can have 

 had much to do with young people in America 

 without appreciating the fact that for the 

 sake of the communitj' and for their own sake, 

 many of our youthful collegians should be 

 taught humility of spirit. The isolation of 

 the freshmen would interfere with the ac- 

 complishment of this purpose in the most 

 objectionable way. The most natural way to 

 teach freshmen that they are not of so much 

 importance to others as to themselves is to 

 submerge them in a community of older col- 

 lege men. Finding themselves a submerged 

 fourth in a community of men more at home 

 in the college world, they learn to take a sub- 

 ordinate part in the discussions, to listen to 

 the opinions of others, sometimes to accept 

 them, and even to entertain an opinion with- 

 out expressing it. The self-centered and con- 

 tentious are snubbed into right-mindedness 

 before they know it. They learn self-control 

 and discrimination. They come into contact 

 with the older men naturally and learn from 

 them. When they are set apart the upper 

 classmen seek them out chiefly to " rush " 

 them for fraternities. The result is that what 

 was a superficial defect of character is driven 

 in, becoming perhaps less manifest but more 

 . deeply rooted. 



The presence of a few upper classmen or 

 instructors in a freshman dining hall or 



