On Colleges, Poetry, and Life

AT a time when educational methods are undergoing a sweeping change, a complete analysis of present principles and experimental improvements, written by a man whose experience and vision mark him as one of the great educational leaders of the country, challenges immediate attention.

Dr. Little, who has served as assistant dean of Harvard, President of the University of Maine, and President of the University of Michigan, uses his wide experience wisely in denouncing many of the antiguated traditions of college organization. The additional merits of eagerness and idealism, which lift this work from the ranks of prosaic scholarship to those of sincere, sound criticism, mark. "The Awakening College" as a pioneer in the field of future educational endeavor.

With a thoroughness that takes him into every important aspect of college education and environment, and even beyond into the needs of the society of the future, Dr. Little fearlessly debunks the outstanding fallacies of modern flights toward the Olympus of the intelligent. His work is both idealistic, and practically progressive. There is scarcely a, flaw in the details of the modern system which he leaves unprobed. His suggestions for improvement, though sometimes open to serious debate and theoretical scepticism, cry out for a fair trial and an unblased judgement.

Reared under a system that rancored, the author still recognizes that great teachers are always free from the trammels of the traditional or unproductive methods. His plea is for a system that will do its work well through the incorporation of scientific principles, rather than by dependency on the rare teacher of "Humanitas." He adds to that plea, the tried and proved remedies for the specific sores in the sleeping body of learning. There is no sounder precept of progress than this.

The avenues to improvement opened up in this outstanding work are so well marked that Dr. Little's denunciation of the stagnation of college faculties and governing bodies arouses sympathetic agreement. It is obvious that the colleges are static and unprogressive, not because they do not know where to go, but because the present situation is too comfortable. The wealth of his examples showing the narrowness, prejudice, and unproductive conservatism of the institutions of higher learning as a whole amazes even those who are in close contact with the most clamorous evils.

One of Dr. Little's most insistent demands is that students should have the opportunity to examine the machinery of the college, to think about its functions, and to suggest improvements. There is no better way of introduction than to read this vigorous analysis of the problems. It is taken for granted that every intelligent person, including college faculties, will read this work and consider it seriously.

Dr. Little combines the rare ability to drive straight home to the heart of the situation with a clarity of vision and a spiritual vividness that is profoundly invigorating. He sends his barbs, his shafts and his thunderbolts in well ordered legions. His keenness is surpassed only by his Utopia. He applies the spur so much needed in arousing an earnest interest in education, the most permanent social contribution of the age. There is no individual, no member of society who can afford to overlook this living philosophy. The leaders of the coming generation, especially, should consider themselves ignorant unless they keep step with the principles and practice of education. The "Awakening College" acts both as a stimulus and a text book in fulfilling this mission