Colleges in America

by John Marshall Barker

The college is a homogeneous community of a distinct and peculiar type. It is a little world by itself. The professors and students are separated from the common activities of life, and a common feeling unites all in a common bond. There are poured into this community the hopes, aspirations, habits, and tastes of the different students, which are soon molded into a common life, and become, in turn, an important factor in forming the character and directing the life of the student.

The college classes become the organic centers of college life. For four years the students meet, at least in the smaller colleges, in the same lecture rooms for common studies, and become acquainted with each other's talents, tempers, and characteristics. It is within this charmed circle that the students find their associates and form warm and lasting friendships. It is not to be wondered at that class spirit runs high and class sentiment becomes a strong abiding power with the student. It is worth much to any young man or woman to be initiated into this hallowed sanctuary and catch its spirit and receive its uplifting influence. These central forces of the college classes naturally combine into a community with a common life. Thus each college comes to have a genius loci of its own. The subtle and fascinating influence of the common life and spirit is the esprit de corps of a college, and exerts no small influence over the life of the students. It gives exhilaration and stimulus to the students, and its formative power is felt throughout their lives, molding character and giving form to their opinions and direction to their aims, so that the college becomes a real Alma Mater. It is this spirit that makes and enforces a peculiar sentiment in the college community, which becomes almost as strong as positive law. These influences emanate in various ways. No one can trace them to their ultimate source, but all feel the effect of these dominant forces, and realize that their lives are, in some measure, gradually but surely becoming molded and shaped by them. These influences are among the most cherished recollections in after years, and unite the student to his college with affectionate regard. There is certainly no better place for our youth to form and solidify a manly character, and develop independent convictions and humanitarian sympathies which will be of lasting satisfaction.

Noah Porter, in speaking of the benefits of association in a college community, truthfully says: "It is enough for us to be able to assert that thousands of the noblest men, who stand foremost in the ranks of social and professional life, would be forward to acknowledge that they are indebted to the cultivating influences of college friendships and college associations for the germs of their best principles, their noblest aspirations, and their most refined tastes. * * * True manhood, in intellect and character, is in no community so sagaciously discerned and so honestly honored as in this community. Pretension and shams are in none more speedily and cordially detected and exposed. Whether displayed in manners or intellectual efforts, conceit is rebuked and effectually repressed. Modest merit and refined tastes are appreciated, first by the select few, and then by the less discerning many. Each individual spectator of the goings-on of this active life is learning intellectual and moral lessons which he cannot forget if he would, and which he would not if he could, and he comes away with a rich freight of the most salutary experiences of culture in his tastes, his estimates of character, his judgments of life, as well as of positive achievements in literary skill and power."

Some of the effective means of social life among the students are the open and the secret societies. They are purely voluntary, and are originated and managed by the members.

The Greek Letter Societies are secret, and prevail in nearly all colleges. They are generally limited to ten or twenty members, and the chapters in the different colleges bear a friendly and mutual relation to each other. Among the Eastern colleges, nearly all these societies have elegant chapter houses, in which the members have rooms, and where they enjoy homelike comforts; while in the Western colleges the societies have attractive rooms, with tasteful appointments, which become a place of rendezvous for their members. Their only bond is congeniality. Some very different types of character are manifest in these societies. Students group themselves according to their common tastes, habits, and character. Some societies aim at scholarship or literary excellence, while others make wealth or social qualities an essential requirement. Even "fast fellows," if there be such, are eager to group themselves together into a secret society. A few of these societies are of a literary character, but the object of the majority is to promote sociability. It is claimed that their influence in some colleges is positively injurious, while in others they are beneficial and helpful in cultivating social qualities and in establishing warm intimate friendships among the members.

It is a question whether the attendant evils do not offset their advantages. They are expensive, and often accompanied with distractions unfavorable to student life. Sometimes the late hours and suppers and other convivial indulgences absorb time and lower scholarship. They afford opportunity secretly to do evil. The members may plan escapades and hatch intrigues, and cover them up so as to make it almost impossible for the college authorities to discover the guilty ones. Yet many excellent things are said of them and of the mutual benefits to their members.

The open societies, devoted exclusively to literary work, need no justification. They are voluntary associations for general literary and forensic culture. Oratorical and literary accomplishments are a prerequisite to the highest success and usefulness. The student who improves the opportunities of these societies need not neglect his regular college work, but in them can train himself to think consecutively, and gain facility of expression and an acquaintance with parliamentary law. If he makes faithful preparation, he will escape bombast and loose thinking and expression, and will become familiar with public movements, political questions, and social tendencies. For these and other reasons the literary societies should be encouraged, and students should consider it a privilege to become members of the same.

Political clubs are, likewise, organized among the colleges to promote the success of their several parties and the triumph of their respective principles. At the time of national contests the clubs are especially active at mass meetings, in joint debates, and speeches, which set forth the merits of party principles and candidates. These experiences are both pleasant and instructive. The dignified participation of students in active political work tends to fire their patriotism and better equip them for the important social and civil duties of life. Political leagues are now organized in nearly all our colleges, with a view to strengthen the political party ties of the students in the several colleges and extend the party spirit and principle.

Glee clubs and other musical clubs, together with classical and scientific clubs, likewise afford ample opportunity for cultivating social life, and furnish pleasant entertainment.

Interest in athletic sports and outdoor amusements is often intense. Foot-ball and base-ball are the most popular games. Boat clubs are especially popular at Harvard and Yale. Bicycle clubs and lawn tennis clubs are made quite enjoyable to a large class of students.