"On The Make"

Competition is the keynote of Yale. Though this generalization may not be airtight, to the outsider the most noticeable trait of the Yale undergraduate is that of being "on the make." The competition takes place in athletics and other forms of extra-curricular activity. Success is measured in terms of social recognition. There exists a good deal of equality of opportunity.

After they graduate, extra-curricular "big shots" retain the competitive spirit of their college days. According to a survey made by the Personal Study and Graduate Placement Bureaus, former campus leaders meet success sooner than their loss prominent classmates. Their salaries are higher. Though the survey takes in only a small group, its findings are plausible enough to be accepted as accurate.

In the miniature world of the university, the destination of the competitive express is social prestige. In the larger world, the first station is making money. What an extraordinary resemblance there is between the two types of competition! Both tend to foster equality of opportunity. Both help to keep the society in which they exist from becoming stratified. In both the goal is an immediate and definite one, the dividends make their appearance early. The campus "big shot" and the "rugged individualist" of business have much in common.

Both types promote a sense of values which can be overemphasized. This is the sense of values which gives special importance to immediate material considerations such as position and wealth, instead of to less obvious things such as intellectual and artistic ability, cultivation, and character. Influence and affluence often reflect brains and personality, but the latter qualities too frequently express themselves in other ways for which there is little or no recognition.

A further parallel suggests itself. "Rugged Individualism" in this country seems to be on the decline (though competition for jobs is stronger than ever). Extra curricular activities, though still powerful, have some of their pristine glory. Will the College Plan do to the one what the passing of the frontier has done to the other? Are not both the symbols of the philosophy of competition a philosophy that has seen better days? Yale News.