Yale University - Banner / Pot Pourri Yearbook (New Haven, CT)

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VOLUNTARY RELIGION ACCELERATED WITH FOUNDING OF DWIGHT HALL IN l886 dents. It was in 1886 that the Yale student ' s voluntary religious activities were greatly accelerated by the founding of Dwight Hall. A number of new buildings were erected in the 1880 ' s and 1890 ' s, but a heavy loss to Yale tradition was suffered in 1888 when the Old Yale Fence was torn down. Shortly afterwards a second Yale Fence was built within the campus, and for a number of years, this, with its annual Fence Orations , took the place of the old Fence to a certain extent. Yale ' s social struc- ture received a blow in 1890 when the last of the Freshman secret societies departed from the com- munity, and since then there has never been a society of that type. After the death of the first-year societies, an annual celebration, the Omega Lambda Chi , sprang up, only to disappear in the 1900 ' s. In 1 89 1 the Yale Alumni Weekly was established, and in the following year Commons once more reap- peared and a new Gymnasium was constructed. Near the close of the nineteenth century, the Old Brick Row was rapidly being torn down, and many new buildings appeared. No longer was the College enclosed within a single block of New Haven ' s munici- pality. Architecturally, the University had now branched out in many directions from the Old Campus. In addition, one of the most amazing transformations was the gradual increase in the size of the undergraduate body in Yale College as the years sped by. In the thirty years prior to 1900 the Sheffield Scien- tific School students themselves had more than doubled in numbers. It was in 1894 that a new publication, the Yale Scientific Monthly, appeared on the campus, and a little over two decades later the old Yale Courant withdrew from the scene. Yale broadened out still more as a University; THE SECOND YALE FENCE- ABOUT 1895 XVI

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the velocipede craze swept into Yale, as it did throughout the rest of the country. By 1869 the student enrollment in Yale College had increased by over one hundred, but the dormitory problem remained unsolved. Of the 539 undergraduates only 268 lived within one of the Colleges as dormi- tories were called even in those early days. Later they became known as Halls. Two old traditions disappeared from the Yale environment in 1870. Both Linonia and Brothers in Unity, along with their Statement of Facts , passed out of existence, and the Wooden Spoon Exhibition and Concert were in the same year abolished by vote of the Junior Class. The idea of a dance at this time of the year was not abandoned, however, nor was the old tradition in modified form of the Wooden Spoon presentation. Both lingered on. The 1870 ' s saw the decline of hazing and near-disappearance of the old banger and beaver rushes. One step further from the jurisdiction of the State of Connecticut was achieved in 1871 when the General As- sembly of Connecticut passed an Act consent- ing to the substitution of six graduates, elected by their fellow-graduates, of the College for the six senior senators of the State in the membership of the Yale Corporation. The College Library continued to increase in size its collection of books, and in 1871-72 it received both the Linonia and the Brothers libraries. In 1872 the Yale Record was founded, and four years later in 1878 the Yale Daily News appeared for the first time. An advance was made in 1876, when nearly one-half the subjects of a student ' s last two years became elective, and in the same year compulsory services began to be held in the new Battell Chapel every morning. In the 1870 ' s the trend away from required chapel continued, when the Sunday afternoon services were made voluntary and finally disappeared entirely. A stimulus to athletics was the construction in 1882 of the Yale Field. Football and baseball games began to be played there, and undergraduate interest heightened considerably. Victories were all-important, and a defeat brought tears. Two years later in 1884 a tremendous leap was made in the realm of elective subjects, and one-half of the courses in Junior year and four-fifths of the Senior year subjects were selected by the stu- VELOCIPEDES IN 187O XV

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DEATH OF THE SOPHOMORE SOCIETIES I90I the School of Music was founded in 1894, the School of Forestry in 1900, and the School of Nursing in 1923. At the turn of the century George Joseph Hannibal, L. W. Silliman, Es- quire was the favorite campus char- acter, only very little hazing remained, and rushes had degener- ated into comparatively gentle scram- bles. The annual wrestling matches between the Freshmen and Sophomores took place each year, and although there was a Commons , most of the undergraduates ate in eating joints. Although there was plumbing, the shower bath had not yet appeared, and although there were street cars they were still drawn by horses. Gas light and heat had, however, added to the conveniences of that era. A second transformation of Yale ' s social structure occurred in 1901 with the disappearance of the last of the Sophomore secret societies. After the World War of 1914-19, Town and Gown relations once more suffered a relapse, and there was much serious disorder. In 1920 a revo- lutionary change shook the foundations of Yale tradition, with the advent of the Common Freshman Year. No longer was the Sheffield Scientific School course to consist of merely three years. Both Scientific School and Academic students would study together for one year before determining in which school they wished to register for the remaining three years. As a result of this transformation a higher scholastic average, a lower scho- lastic mortality rate, and improved training were attained. Almost all courses were elective now, with the exception of several in Freshman year. But it was in the 1920 ' s that Commons became compulsory for all first- year men, whereas it had at one time been a voluntary institution, and in the same decade the second Yale Fence lost whatever significance it had achieved in the undergraduate mind. In 1922 the first University Budget Drive was instituted in the inter- est of charity. The University continued to grow, and finally in 1923 a limit was placed as to the number of students entering Yale both in the Freshman Class and in the graduate and professional Schools. It was in 1926 that compulsory daily chapel was finally voted out by the Faculty, after student balloting had condemned it, and since then attendence at religious services has been purely voluntary. In 1938 the first University Christian Conference was held and attracted wide interest, and in the same XVII