DePauw University - Mirage Yearbook (Greencastle, IN)

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above circumstantial proof, coupled with his st1'ong administration of the Universityls affairs, have won the love and confidence of every loyal student. Under Dr. Gobin's administration there has been the most complete union of faculty and students that has been seen in the University in a decade. Knowing, as the students do, that they have the coniidence of their president and teachers, they have borne in quiet the irksome rules which a Board of Trustees has imposed upon society and social events at ,De Pauwg rules well iitted to a graded school, but scarcely applicable to men and women with years and ability sufficient to give them' a place as thinkers in the ranks of higher education. We regret that these rules, once banished to the realm of the obsolete, along witl1 the Sunday-afternoon lecture and the text- book recitation, have bee11 disinterred, and, with the addition ot' others still more ancient, again thrust upon us. - . The opposition to athletics, which for years has been shown by a part of our faculty, has almost disappeared, and in its stead has come aid and sympathy, tl1c added impetus of which has againvplaced De Pauw athletics upon a iirm basis. WVe believe that the results of the past season are sufficient to justify the confident assertions of our president that pure aniatcur athletics could be made a success in a university. , As a result ofthe earnest effbrts of Professors Priest and Baker and Mr. Meade, the athletic park, which for many years has been a vision of tl1e future, has at last taken definite shape in McKeen field. This gives us the best athletic park in the state, and when all the ap- purtenances planned are supplied, it will be second to none in the west. The affairs of the athletic management have been taken out of the hands of the old Board of Directors and vested in a board com- posed of faculty, alumni and students. ' Thus all sides are repre- sented, and the students given the beneiit of trained business advice, and an eiiieient check is placed upon over-enthusiasm.

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EDITOIQIZXL USTOM has fixed upon the classes of' American Universities certain definite a11d prescribed acts for each year of' the college course. The two most important are the publishing of an annual by the Juniors, and the preparation of a Class-Day play by the Seniors. It is in accordance with the former of' these customs that the present Junior class issues the current volume of THE MIRAGE. It has been the aim of the editors to show college life, to point out the relations of the students to each other, to tl1e University, and to the faculty, and to make plain the faults and merits of' the institution as viewed by the student body. The editors have not considered themselves a self'-appointed board of correction, whose duty it is to supervise tl1e general administration of' the University. Neither have they thought it advisable to ignore tl1ose things which the students, generally, consider as detrimental to their best interests. The editors hold that it is the purpose of' an annual to bring about a better understanding between the students on the one side and the faculty, trustees and alumni on the etherg and to this end they have directed their efforts. Many events of importance to the University mark the period that has intervened since the publication of' tl1e '96 MIRAGE. Dr. John, whose merit as a man and scholar is recognized, not only in the University, but throughout this and adjoining states, has seen fit to resign the presidency, itlltl has entered tl1e lecture field. Sorry as the students are to lose the services of Dr. John, yet it is with, if possible, even greater respect and confidence that they turn to his successor, Dr. Gobin. His mild but firm discipline, his enthusiasm in student affairs, his belief in honor, which placed a st-udent's word

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We extend our most hearty thanks to those sixty of our loyal alumni who by their kindly gifts made up tl1e deficiency in the ap- propriation and enabled the University to maintain our most excellent Department of Oratory, whose students have brought such honor upon themselves, the department and the institution' Our record in oratory, for this year alone, would place De Pauw above any other institution in the state. Several changes have also taken place in the faculty. Dr. Duval, of the Department of Philosophy, has accepted a call to that chair at Ohio Wesleyan University. Dr. Bigham, of Amherst, Yale and Harvard, has been called to take his place. We regret that Dr. Big- ham, in attempting to re-establish the text-book recitation. so long obsolete here, has created considerable dissatisfaction with the depart- ment. Prof. Underwood, known to the students as a broad and lib- eral man, whose reputation has extended over the whole country, was summarily dropped by tl1e Board of Trustees, without notice, and during his absence from the University. The students must deplore the loss of such a man from among their instructors, especially if the rumor be true that his discharge was based upon misrepresenta- tion, and that by a student and preacher. WVe welcome, in the re- established Department of Biology, Mr. Cook, of Leland Stanford, Jr., University. Mr. Cook has given excellent satisfaction, both in zoology and botany, and following, as he does, such men as Under- wood and Norman, is to be the more congratulated on his success. We regret that the old faction that has so long existed between the Departments of Language and Science is not yet dead, and its detri- mental effeets can be seen by the student body. We also regret that the only honor awarded for studentship has been degraded to a mere reward fbr grades. We hold that such a course tends to produce bookworms, to check college enthusiasm, to make a man a slave in- stead of a master of his work, and to uniit him for a place in the