University of Denver - Kynewisbok Yearbook (Denver, CO)

Page 25 text:

®ljp tui pntB’ Aaaflriatimt Since the adoption, in October, l()IO. of the constitution of the Students’ Association of the University of Denver, and the organization of the body in accordance with the dictates thereof, the students of the University entered—indeed upon the desired new era of their development—an era of organized activities. In the few years that the organization has been in existence, it has proved worthily the importance and near-necessity of such concerted action, and has already come to be regarded as one of the indispensable of student activities. The years just passed have seen the introduction into scholastic affairs, of a plan which promises permanence and financial safety to all intercollegiate activities in which the students of the University of Denver engage, namely, compulsory membership to the Association. It is this regulation which has carried the intercollegiate activities through the past year so well—not only through the calendar of sports, the financial backing of which is chiefly concerned with enthusiasts who have no relation to the University, but through the debating, oratorical and other fields, which are as truly student activities as football, although not always recognized as such. The control of this phase of the work of the Association, however, seems not perfected. until the fee required for membership—five dollars—is demanded with, and as a part of. the tuition. This fact impressed itself on the Board of Management repeatedly during the year just passed, and it is the recommendation of the Board that the matter be treated in the manner suggested, as is the probability for the coming year. Aside from the pecuniary benefit which the student body has received as a result of the formation of this organization, the life of the students has been brightened, and that intangible thing called School Spirit has been quickened to a noticeable degree. I he talks, recitations, readings, and musical numbers which have been offered in chapel as a result of the work of the Association, has all tended toward a more pleasant, friendly, and familiar attitude not only between the students themselves, but between faculty and students as well. I he work of the Association this year has been of the same satisfactory character of the years preceding. Among the more important events which have been successfully managed may be mentioned several rallies before football, basketball, and baseball games, the entertainment of visiting High School students on High School Day an event which is the direct result of this organization—the city Track Meet, an improved system of rooting, numerous parades and demonstrations, judicious management of interclass athletics, and renewed interest in Oratory and Debating. In spite of the progress of the organization since its formation, there remain many fields of usefulness which have as yet not been entered, and many questions as yet untouched await the organization in after years. 17