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Page 112 text:
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The smoker at which Mortimer Karpp spoke of a modi- fied (i. e. houseless) House Plan is now legendary, and overgrown with a good ileal of undeserved romanticism. But in the actuality of a dynamic or- ganization at 292 Convent, stands a lasting tribute to a single individual and a group of enthusiastic, socially hungry college youth. In the calm of the winter of 1934, instructors in Townsend Harris Hall found their rooms stormed hy small hands of enterprising freshmen, eager to he the first to set up active House sections. Frequenters of the faculty lounge were no end disturbed with the presence on Thursdays, at 4, of noisy neophytes, consuming cake and coffee (sometimes with sugar, but more often without), and generally making that section of the campus appear to be inhabited by normal human beings. It was the plan of Mr. Karpp to set up small groups of from twenty-five to fifty freshmen, chosen at random, and observe bow they would acclimate themselves to each other, and whether they would present a more integrated ap|»earance to the College community. Houses were to In- named after promi- nent alumni and others who had made noteworthy and desirable contributions to the College ... in a conscious at- tempt to develop a spirit of loyalty and tradition which most highly ur- banized colleges lack. Out of the mad scramble for names first appeared Sim, Bowker, Bemsen, Werner, Weir, Dean, Harris, ami Shepard, with Briggs, Gibbs, and Abbe following at a later date. Thursday afternoon coffee hours be- gan to be held in shifts as the House Plan membership lists increased; and the participation of I'lannitcs In-gan a very successful revitalization of a moribund system of intramural ath- letics. Faculty members were ensnared by the boys, and the unblushing pres- ence of such men as Professors Dick- son, Wright, and Otis, and Messrs. Seliger, Harvey, Weissman (now at 23rd Street), along with Mr. Karpp, was a tradition-shattering phenomenon. Through varying shifts in |M rsonnel and cleavages from the original system of chance-selected groups, about two hundred and fifty students were pleas- antly surprised to find themselves housed in a furniture-less dwelling at 292 Coment in May 1933. Attacked on the one hand as radical, and on the other as an administration dose of sugar coated purgative to the dis- gruntled ami disillusioned students at the (College, the new organization at- tracted the attention «4 the Class of 1910, and that group endowed the I lous« Plan with a gift of one thousand dollars, which was used to buy much needed apparatus on which to rest one's weary posterior. The House Plan Association, a mem- bership corporation, was set up under the presidency of Dean Cottschall, who hail been, and continued to be, a hearty sympathizer, and active worker for the social fiedgling. The first bequest was followed in turn by others from the Bowker family, from the Class of 19().‘ , from the Class of 1911, and from the College post of the American legion. Mrs. i-cflingwcll, nice - to the late Kdward M. Shep- ard, presented the building at 292 to the House Plan Association in the spring of 1937, and the gift was marked by simple, yet impressive cere- monies the following November. The day of homemade benches ami seats improvised from piles of books has passed . . . and some regret it, for to them, the pioneer spirit has gone, too. Among the proud |H ssessions of the Plannites is a modest but growing li- brary; a well-equipped music room (with its six hundred dollar radio- victrola): the 1910 Hoorn, among whose great claims to fame is the fact that it is one of the extra-curricular stamping grounds of Professor Morris 108
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Page 113 text:
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R. Cohen (al Honors meetings, which often run beyond the conventional hour of retirement of Maid (.onvenl Avenue dwellers): and the combina- tion name-dining room. Arts and Crafts, photography, and the Megaron, ne Plan-el, have cubby holes on the third floor. The fall of 1935 saw the beginning of a new era in the social lives of City College men, when the gym dances made their first appearance under the sponsorship of the House Plan, “ . . . a dance to he held in the Kxercising Hall ...” became a familiar phrase around the campus. Other organiza- tions soon followed suit, and these af- fairs became frequent, enjoyable, and financially successful. The winter sea- son of the next year was capja-d by a novelty Carnival, run in the best three- ling fashion. Miss Hazel Horowitz of the Commerce center invaded the male domain for a one night stand as Queen. At the same time that this great social gap was being filled, the Houses di«l not forget their educational func- tion, and 292 was a meeting place for College intellectuals, come to hear speakers on topics of varying natures. There arose the Theatre Workshop, under the direction of the amiable Dr. Richard Ceough, which featured a series of performances at the Roerich Theatre; J. Hailey Harvey's glee club and listeners’ hour: and although they are not strictly cultural, hut often ac- company these profound sessions, the many dinners of varying degrees of edibility. Hut perhaps the institution for which 292 is more famous than any other is that of afternoon teas. Often just for the boys themselves or for an entering group of freshmen, occasionally for the deans, individually or collectively, and even for persons or groups im- portant extra muros, these social hours provide an admirable medium of so- cial intercourse among students, and between members of the College stall. Discussions which started over a cup of “tchai” sometimes became stormy, and threatened the raising of barri- cades in Convent venue, and mayhap have contributed to more than one doc- toral thesis written by a College in- structor during the past three years. More and more the House Plan Council, a federated body of House section representatives, assumed con- trol of activities in the building. Hut whether the system was one of Hoards of Managers or of functionally-named committees, the hulk of work centered in the amazingly efficient bedlam of the first floor-front room, which served as the office of Mr. Karpp, after the intrusion of the ping pong table down- stairs. Here, between a “timeo Danaos ...” and a discussion on the “practicality of idealism,” the grow ing pains of the sometimes dys|»eptic babe were soothed, and its needs miracu- lously taken of. Heated arguments on progressive education, and interesting comments on the social value of such estimable gentlemen as George Wash- ington, Plunkett, of “honest graft” fame, impinged on the ears of the freshmen busily at work on bs—2b ? in the library at the rear. From the sheen of superficiality to the depths of profundity, social philosophy was plumbed, and combined with a soul- satisfying if not minutely accurate administration. Rabies love to play with fire, and in its sponsorship of the Charter Day Hall, celebrating the ninetieth anni- versary of the founding of the College, the House Plan suffered its first burns. However, these scars were soon healed, to bo followed by an occurrence of fundamental significance. The first | e- riod of growth of the House Plan came to a close with the retirement of Mor- timer Karpp from the directorate. Stu- dents, Ixttli inside and outside the Plan, received the news with consternation and more than a little unbelief. Hut their fears were confirmed with the IW
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