City College of New York - Microcosm Yearbook (New York, NY)

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Jfareworii YEARS gone by, when several embryonic Horace Greeleys of either the Junior or Senior Class were elected to the task of publishing a Microcosm, they endeavored to surround the an- nual with an atmosphere that would create awe and respect among the student body and which would cause contemporary institutions to resemble fresh-water colleges. Unfortunately the moonlit campus, with its boisterous crowd of merrymaking students breaking into yells that contend with the din of deafening shouts and hoarse-throated horns; the brilliantly lighted dormitories with clouds of smoke curling forth from the windows of rooms in which students are lounging in reckless abandon, twanging on banjos and humming the old, old songs of Alma Mater: the dull classroom into which grotesquely dressed students drag their way to a fossiled peda- gogue. soon destined to fall an easy prey to their many bewhiskered and rheumatic pranks;—this rosy paradise, this volcano of fun, this carnival of delight, this primrose path to knowledge has its place only in $1.08 fiction and music-fringed comedy! These fantastic conceits arc but the creations of dreamy novelists and passionate playwrights who scribble to tickle the fancy of the hired girl and the vast army of high-school youngsters to whom college life and a bed of daisies arc synonymous terms. With this paradise in view, the old board of editors, figuratively s| eakiug, reached into the clouds for weird names of sporting organizations, literary societies and drinking clubs (ginger ale, of course). Naturally they created themselves the grand moguls of these organizations. And when the Juniors or Seniors saw how ably the Staff had succeeded in crowning itself with laurel wreaths, they, too. spoke figuratively of the publication— but not in praise. They only regretted that the law protects individuals gifted with overheated imaginations. As for the Freshics and Sophs, they no more thought of the Microcosm than of Hastings and Beach. Our Student Council considered this situation seriously. It is seldom that college organizations ever accom- plish anything beyond displaying a wondrous wealth of oratorical ingenuity. 1 lours are s| ent in discussing that eternal question—the priority of the egg or hen. or juggling with other problems equally stimulative of interest- ing debate. But the Student Council, now a potent college organization, proposed the publishing of the Micro- cosm by a board chosen from the different classes, and with that action assumed responsibility for the annual. If. peradventure, you ever strolled near our editorial sanctum you would have perceived thru the keyhole the touching sight of the Freshic sitting on the Sophomore's knee, while Junior and Senior are ventilating their opinions as to the best means of making this year-book truly representative and worthy of our College. We feel confident that in compiling this Microcosm we have faithfully recorded all activities and interests worthy of recognition. As Dame Fortune would have it. the students, beneath these white-capped towers, have awakened to the realization that dyspepsia is no longer the test of scholarshipspice and zest have consequently been added to Folio Eleven

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EDITORIAL STAFF OF 1910 MICROCOSM

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the year, and titanic strides toward a more intimate asociation and fellowship have been realized. With the laying of the corner-stone of this new spirit, new organizations have sprung up. the old have been strengthened, and as a result we present this annual surrounded by a true statistical atmosphere—unassisted by the imagination. If this, the 1910 Microcosm, will tend in the far. far future to awaken sweet memories of the many golden bubbles of youthful ambitions, if it will bring up as if in a dream the remembrance of laughing, jolly good fellows, if it will still recall the joys and the sorrows, the hopes and the disappointments and serve to bind you forever to our Alma Mater, we remain content that this contribution is of some worth, that our labors will not have been in vain and that we have merited enrollment in Abou Hen Adhem's Hook of Gold.’ Tub Editors. Ejiadys in life tSfistonj of tlj? (£. (E. N. 1847. May 7. The New York Legislature passed an Act providing for the establishment of a Free Academy. June 9. This Act ratified by the people of New York City. 1848. The Free Academy established by the Hoard of Education. 1849. January. The first class entered the Academy. 1854. The institution endowed by the Legislature with collegiate powers and privileges. 1866. The name of the institution changed to College of the City of New York by Act of Legislature. 1873. June 28. Exercises held at the unveiling of the Mural Tablet erected to the memory of those of our grad- uates who perished in the Civil War. 1882. The College opened to all young men -of the city of proper age and projxr qualifications by special enact- ment of the legislature. 1900. A separate Hoard of Trustees created by the terms of the New York City Charter. 1901. Adoption of the Seven-Year Course. 1902. Resignation of President Webb. 1903. March 10. Rreaking of the ground at the site of new buildings. September 29. Installation of President Finley and Laying of Cornerstone exercises. 1906. Organization of the Student Council. 1907. Removal of the College to the new buildings. 1908. Reorganization of the Student Council. 1908. May 14. Formal dedication of new college buildings. 1909. Institution of the Dean of the Faculty. ?JrrBtiirnJ0 of llje (College Horace Webster, LL.D. John Huston Finley, LL.D. Alexander Stewart Webb, LL.D. Folio T Xftlve