374 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 740 



work of the college, on the ground that a 

 large part of the young men enrolled in 

 the college have no intention of giving 

 themselves to scholarly pursuits, and can 

 not be reasonably expected to have a 

 scholarly spirit. The trouble is not simply 

 that some men do not study. That vs^as 

 always the fact. No system ever fulfills 

 its own ideal; and in the old days, when it 

 was supposed that all students were pre- 

 paring to be scholars, the supposition was 

 very far from being exactly in accordance 

 with the reality. But then the men who 

 did not study knew and confessed that 

 they ought to study. Now it is gravely as- 

 serted in influential quarters that many 

 students in college ought not to study to 

 any very great extent, and ought not to be 

 expected to study; that, as they are never 

 intending to be scholars, there is no need 

 of their being particularly scholarly even 

 during their school life. Precisely on this 

 ground, then, there is a pressure not only 

 on the part of friends of particular stu- 

 dents, but also on the part of influential 

 alumni and alumni clubs and associations, 

 to admit men who are unprepared, to toler- 

 ate men who are neglecting their work, 

 and to graduate men who have accom- 

 plished very little in the line of study. 

 Especially is such a pressure exerted in 

 behalf of men who are distinguishing 

 themselves as athletes during their school 

 and college life, and in behalf of men who 

 are likely to come into possession of con- 

 siderable money. In urging the claims of 

 such men for peculiarly lenient treatment 

 in college, it is seriously maintained that it 

 is a good thing for men who are going 

 into business, or any other pursuit not 

 distinctly scholastic in character, to go to 

 college with no intention of doing any 

 considerable amount of studying, and to 

 be graduated without having done any 

 considerable amount of studying. It is 

 urged that, if they spend the four years 



essentially in the avocations of student 

 life— athletics, social events, amusements, 

 college politics— and, in the occasional in- 

 tervals of leisure which these exhausting 

 avocations may afford, study enough to 

 pass examinations and to be graduated 

 speciali gratia, they will yet absorb from 

 the general atmosphere of the college an 

 influence in the direction of increasing 

 breadth of view and higher ideals in life 

 which will be worth the cost in time and 

 money. I do not believe that this view 

 finds much support among college facul- 

 ties; but I do believe that continual pres- 

 sure in this direction actually tends to se- 

 cure the admission of men with lower 

 standards of preparation, and the gradua- 

 tion of men with lower standards of schol- 

 arly achievement, than would other^^nse be 

 tolerated. The whole position seems to me 

 radically wrong. The business of a stu- 

 dent is to study; and for the individual 

 student to spend the four years in the 

 vocation, and to devote the bulk of his 

 continual and systematic neglect of his 

 time and mental energy to the avocations 

 of student activities, is essentially de- 

 moralizing. He leaves college with a 

 weakened sense of responsibility, and a 

 conscience which has grown increasingly 

 tolerant of self-indulgence. He has suf- 

 fered a distinct loss' in those eleinents of 

 strength of character which qualify a man 

 for noble achievement in any department 

 of human life. 



If the evil effect were confined to the 

 individuals' directly concerned, it would 

 be less serious than it actually is; for a 

 class of men who are in college not to 

 study but for other purposes, exerts an 

 influence upon the college body in the 

 direction of degradation of scholarship 

 and deterioration of character. Especially 

 strong is this evil influence if the men 

 concerned possess athletic ability, wealth, 

 attractive mannere and amiable social 



