ATHLETIC ELIGIBILITY

Dean Briggs' official announcement of the eligibility rules to be enforced in athletic contests this spring clears the atmosphere in regard to this difficult question. That the members of our teams must be on the same basis of training and hours of practice as their opponents has always been an accepted conclusion. The chief source of discussion--whether or not undergraduates must be enrolled in some military or naval course in order to be eligible for athletics has now been settled affirmatively.

It has been frequently argued that each individual should have the right to judge whether there might not be some excellent reason for his not joining a college training unit. Such a man, it was said, should not be deprived of the privilege of athletic competition when he was preparing himself for service other than military. The answer to this theorem is a perfectly logical one; it is impossible to distinguish between patriots and slackers. No undergraduate or graduate wants to see the University represented by any man who is not doing his utmost toward his future usefulness in the war.

Those who are physically unacceptable for the Army and Navy are, however, included among the number who may compete on athletic teams. There are certain men in every college whose minor physical disqualifications, though barring them from military work, do not prevent their being excellent athletes. Any undergraduates who have made the effort to serve and have failed should not be differentiated from the more fortunate ones who are accepted.

Military drill at the University must not be subordinated to athletics. Sports must serve their proper purpose of recreation from drill which with a more difficult military schedule this spring, they bid fair to do. Any ruling which militates against strict attendance at drills will tend to weaken the R. O. T. C. and the University Ensign School. We welcome Dean Briggs' insistence on the service requirement for eligibility and feel that our teams so constituted will be worthy of representing us against Yale and Princeton.