Georgetown University - Ye Domesday Booke Yearbook (Georgetown, DC)

Page 103 text:

Di. Iiboi Eckhaidt addresses the first meeting of Pathfinders ( lub phgsical ' Craining program © EORGETOWNS physical training program is regarded by today ' s col- legiate authorities as one of the finest and most complete of its type in the country. The program, inaugurated in l - 42 in the form of boxing classes, developed quick- ly under the added stimulus of the war, and soon attained a position of major importance in the school curriculum. Chiefly responsible for the brilliant success of the physical training program is George J. Becker, Director of Physical Training. Mr. Becker this year adopted a program whose purpose was to encourage physical de elop- ment in the college student, and ... to require of a man that his muscles be trained to respond to his will. With the help of two assistants, John Moloney, a senior at Georgetown, and Walter O ' Connell, of the Class of 1945, Mr. Becker has worked constantly to bring to the student the realization of the intention of this -ear ' s P.T. program. The schedule has compulsory calisthenics, cross countr - running, dual com- bat, genera! phxsical conditioning, and com- petiti -e sports such as touch football, basket- ball, track, -olle ball, speedball, and pushball. Boxing, formerK- a part of the P,T. schedule, came into its own and became a arsit - sport. Not only to test the effectiveness of this program, but also to determine the progress made by the participants, tests of respiratory action, ph sical stamina, and adaptablities were made. 99

Page 102 text:

pathftnto Club EMBERSHIP in the Pathfind- ers Club is limited to members of the Senior Class. It has a ofold objective — to point out to the seniors the opportunities that are offered in the dif- ferent walks of life that the ' will follow upon graduation; secondly to weld into a unit the members of the Senior Class, who ha e been split up into various class sections as under- classmen. Under the moderatorship of Father Charles J. [- ' ole , S.j., these objectives were faith- ful 1 - pursued. Meetings were held monthly at Hotel Twenty Four Hundred Si.xteenth St., in the form of dinner meetings, to which men prominent in their respective fields were inxited as guest speakers.

Page 104 text:

Also it has been the policy to give competi- tive examinations at the end of every term, examinations which include running, muscle tests and physical endurance tests. A new GEORGE J. BECKER, Director of Physical Training innovation in the program provides that every man shall be able to swim 100 yards before he leaves Georgetown. The final purpose of the program has been to produce the physically adept student and to furnish a latent field for varsity athletics. That this very complete schedule has been effective is evident not only from records compiled from the achievement tests, but likewise from the fact that since P.T. has been introduced into the college curriculum, there has been a noticeable decline in infirmary cases. Physical training has definitely become a part of the Georgetown policy of developing healthy men, both physically and mentally. George Becker probably best sums up this relationship in this comment: The purpose of our present course is to make the student ' s body what the college curriculum is endeavor- ing to make his mind — a thing to be respon- sive, and to work with the least amount of energy.