THE VICIOUS CIRCLE

"No man with a brilliant genius for creative artistry should run so grave a risk of hampering his chances for a successful dramatic career as to attend college". In these words Mr. Walter Prichard Eaton, in another column of this issue phrases one of the most striking condemnations of the most striking condemnation of the American College ever uttered. The cultural background and intellectual interests which are essential to the dramatist, he finds lacking in the ordinary college graduate. Inasmuch as the latter is expected to have acquired both of these as a result of his college course, it would seem as if something were wrong either with the colleges themselves or the attitude of those who frequent them.

It is unfortunately true that the American colleges are, from an ideal point of view, altogether too paternalistic. The standardized requirements for admission, as well as for graduation tend to put the stamp of uniformity upon the college course as whole. While for the undergraduate, routine work, routine attendance, and routine examinations heighten this general tendency. All these factors have had a restraining effect upon independent intellectual endeavor. The stimulus to such effort is deadened by the continual pressure of every-day requirements. Then, too, many professors have slipped into the habit of assuming only a routine interest on the part of their pupils. Such a habit naturally leads them to confine themselves merely to the most conventional remarks. The by-ways of information will not be pointed out if those by-ways are not sought after. That there are a few notable exceptions, is encouraging, but in general the causes enumerated above have resulted in a diminution of interest in intellectual achievements.

But it is with the undergraduate that the chief blame lies. By conceding only a routine interest to his courses he is playing his part in the vicious circle. When for the average student, concentration is largely confined to his hours at cards or in a dress-suit, it can hardly be said that the colleges are entirely to blame. The truth is that a considerable percentage of the undergraduates are not deeply concerned with the things of the mind art, literature and science.

For a few, scholarship is a profession; for the rest, a lively and keen interest in thing intellectual ought to be a hobby. It is not.

Yet it cannot be said that the undergraduate is entirely responsible for his attitude. So long an parents are content with the things their children are receiving at college, so long will the latter fail to desire anything else. Until intellectual achievement receives more than its present modicum of applause at the hands of the community at large, undergraduate interest will never transfer itself to this field. In this vicious circle, a break must be made somewhere.

The logical starting-point is with the colleges.