Antioch College - Towers Yearbook (Yellow Springs, OH)

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THE NEW GYM 178

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mil xx, X 1 Z vrsrron on an afternoon, say in the last Division B, might well imagine that Antioch is a physical edu- cation institution. Driving east down North Col- ' 15' lege Street, he would pass four tennis courts in use, with many persons waiting to play. Farther on, his atten- tion would be drawn from the buildings to the varsity baseball squad practicing, and a few dashing figures on the cinder track. Two cars would pass him, one filled with men and co-eds in bathing suits hastening towards Gri1mell's, and the other with golf equipped students. Passing the science building he would catch a glimpse of an intramural baseball game in progress. Soon the sight of co-eds in brilliant costumes playing hockey would greet him. If by chance he should wander into the gymnasium, his illu- sion would be completed. There would be gym classes, hand- ball, boxing, wrestling, fencing, apparatus Work, and volley ball for him to watch. No need for the Dean to tell him that at Antioch the physical side of life is not neglected. 177

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47 I VARSITY SPORTS AT ANTIOCH !HoULD varsity be abolished? .lt wasla burnin tion last year and still lurks in Antioch minds. Last yearls vote-which abolished football-left the rest e of the varsity program undisturbed, but it did not settle the question of its value, its success, or its future. The argument for varsity athletics at Antioch is that it presents an object towards which the emotional life of the stu- dent may be directed. The weight of its defense must rest upon the color it lends to Antioch life, the amount of loyalty and sense of unity its fosters-in short, the emotional value to the students, the love of college and esprit dc corps. Antioch aims at all-round experience for its members. Varsity athletics can help supply a phase of it. The fate of varsity athletics, then, rests with the success or failure of varsity teams. There arises the question of whether successful teams can be produced under the cooperative plan and in a college with as high academic standards as Antioch. The records tend to show that men entering such sports as football, baseball, and basket ball, which require long training and strenuous conditioning are relatively unsuccessful, Whereas those expending the more individual effort required in tennis, golf, and fencing, are relatively successful. Football has already been discarded. The remainder of the varsity sports must prove by success that they deserve a place in the athletic program of Antioch. 179