Desecraters

Who among college men relishes the visitations of the plebs to his "spiritual home"? Very few. Yet this affliction is shared by graduates and undergraduates the world over. Summer vacations throw open universities to all manner of people seeking all manner of things in all manner of ways. Chief among them, and least offending, is the teacher bent upon self-improvement.

With all Oxford "down" for the Long Vac, it is customary for old men and fawning boys, bespectacled spinsters and enquiring teachers to desecrate the hallowed precincts of the University with their well-meaning, but incongruous, presence. Many matters are decided during this terrible interregnum, all of which, fortunately, are of little consequence to those who adore old Oxenford as their Alma Mater.

This year the Vice Chancellor (real head of the Varsity), the white haired Doctors, the precious and everlasting Proctors (all-powerful and most hated of mortals) and the Heads of Houses (designated heads of colleges) put their heads together and cruelly crushed to death the old Delegacy for the Extension of Teaching. By a complex arrangement the Hebdomadal Council, Convocation and Congregation (executive and legislative bodies of the University) will appoint 14 members who will be styled the Delegacy for Extra-Mural Studies --that is, academic instruction of adults carried on at various places outside of Oxford*

Details of this scheme have yet to be laid, and there is no possibility of their being hatched before the Autumn, when "the department for the non-vocational education of adult persons beyond the limits of the University" will start to lay its educative plans in real earnest.

The whole movement is essentially sound and praiseworthy from every point of view, and, best of all, most of the undergraduates who will be "up" for the Michaelmas Term will not be a penny the wiser. Here ignorance is superlative bliss, for who cares for the stranger in one's private preserves?

"Bellhop to the World"

There arrived upon the desk of President Ernest M. Hopkins of Dartmouth College a lengthy report. Dr. Hopkins had awaited the document with interest. Its authors were twelve Dartmouth Seniors whom he had relieved of much curriculum work last February and sent forth to ferret out, at home and abroad, the secrets: why a college exists, how it ought to exist.

Dr. Hopkins picked up the report, turned its pages, was informed:

That a wave of "mass education" swept over the country beginning in 1914--large lecture classes necessitated by swarming students.

That "mass education" meant merely passivity, absorption, retention, partial regurgitation on the part of the student.

That to rekindle the fires of individual intellectual ambition, it were well to go even the length of abolishing lecture courses and send the student to the library, not friendless but alone.

That the Age of Industry, with its deity of "practicality," has demanded, the college has complied, until "the serious question arises: Should the college continue to be bellhop to the world?"

That the answer to this question is "No! The college is, in a certain sense, one of the luxuries of civilization." It must ring the bell, not answer it.

That neither economically nor rationally can the college concern itself with any but superior talent among candidates for admission--hence, a further review of Dartmouth's selective admission plan instituted two years ago.

Just such critiques are to be found, varying in length, detail, practicability but never in import, at every conscious college in the land. At Princeton University, just such thought wrought changes last year-- emphasis on intellectual initiative, abolishment of the "cut" curse, careful Freshman selection. Some believe that historians will date a renaissance of the American intellect from, say, 1920.

Summer

In Europe, a hot Summer sun flooded university courts and quadrangles, peopled with caretakers, guides, tourists--and students. As is becoming more and more the case in the U. S., Summer schools improved the shining hours of July and August, chiefly to the advantage of those who instruct at other seasons.

At Cambridge, the main lectures are on Egypt, on English Literature (with special reference to renowned literary sons of Cambridge), on Theology.

At Oxford, it is the History of the Middle Ages and Speech Training.

At Liverpool, Spanish (the course to be completed at Talander, in the North of Spain).

In France, at the Universities of Besancon, Clermont-Ferrand, Dijon, Grenoble, Lille, Nancy, Poitiers, Strasbourg, Summer curricula are for the benefit of foreigners, chiefly, who seek to know French Life, Literature, History, Art.

At Fontainebleau, the School of Music is attended by many American teachers, artists, advanced students.

At Leyden, Holland, the lecture-subjects foster Dutch -American Amity (TIME, July 21).

At Rome, the American Academy offers History and Classics.

In Spain, at Toulouse (France), at Mexico City, and in Porto Rico, universities have opened the vistas of Spanish Art, Literature, Language.

In Switzerland, the Council and Assembly of the League of Nations have afforded a laboratory for courses at the University of Geneva in current International Polity. Other courses: Alpine Botany, Field Geology, Fresh-water Zoology, Child Welfare, Esperanto, other Languages.

Conferences

P: At Blacksbury, Va., instructors in vocational agriculture from 70 Virginia high schools convened for the seventh time in seven years, exchanged ideas on their common work.

P: At Christiania, Norway, a report on the activities of the American As- sociation of University Women was read by Miss Emma Noonan, of San Francisco, in behalf of Dr. Aurelia Henry Reinhardt, President of Mills College (Oakland, Calif.) and of the American association, before the biennial meeting of the International Federation of University Women.

P: At Bournemouth, England, Welsh and English educational authorities convened, discussed raising the school-leaving age from 14 to 15, dis- cussed adult education.

P: At Washington, the National Council for the Prevention of War held a two-day session on the 10th anniversary of the World War (see FOREIGN AFFAIRS). "Cooperation" was urged "as a means." "Where people are joining hands and cooperating for common ends there can 'be no armed conflict." Telegrams of endorsement were received from State Governors, clergymen, statesmen, politicians, anti-war associations.

Another Institute

Peacefully, making no comparisons, Furman University at Greenville, S. C, joined the brigade of "institute-holders." It announced an Institute of Politics from Aug. 5 to 15, inclusive, without once mentioning the Chicago Institute of International Politics or the Williamstown Institute of Politics, of which "popular" gathering the Chicagoans alleged themselves to be the scholarly, scientific counterpart (TIME, July 14, 28).

Furman's sessions will be matutinal, with midday round-tables, with afternoons off for recreation. Some speakers and subjects: Aug. 5--"Principles of Constitutional Government," by Prof. William Starr Myers of Princeton; "Recent Developments in European Governments," by Associate Prof. Lindsay Rogers of Columbia; "The Electorate and Foreign Affairs," by Prof. James W. Garner of the University of Illinois, President of the American Political Science Association; "The Recent History of Europe," by Prof. John H. Logan of Rutgers College (New Brunswick, N. J.).

Aug. 6--"The Federation of the World," by Dr. Hamilton Holt of Manhattan, onetime Editor of The Independent; "The Monroe Doctrine," by Associate Prof. Charles C. Thatch of Johns Hopkins; "International Law," by Prof. Charles G. Fenwick of Bryn Mawr.

Aug. 8--"Physical Background of World Politics," by Prof. George C. Wilson of Harvard.

Aug. 9--"Control of Foreign Policy in the U. S.," by Prof. Edward S. Corwin of Princeton.

Aug. 11 and 12--Unannounced subjects, by Josephus Daniels of Raleigh, N. C, onetime U. S. Secretary of the Navy.

*During the Long Vacation (June to October) Oxford has for long been, intra-and extra-murally speaking, busy with the propa- gation of knowledge among adults, teachers in particular.