One of the best assets in any seat of learning is the constructive
criticism of the alumni. Broad minded faculties invite intelligent
criticism from the graduate body, and they usually get it.

But after all, the real power of enthusiasm behind college traditions
abides in the student body itself. How is this college patriotism
aroused? What are its manifestations? What is it that awakens the desire
for victory with honor, which is the real background of the great
football demonstration that tens of thousands of Americans witness each
year?

As I think back in this connection upon my own college experiences, the
athletic mass meeting stands out in my memory and records the moment
when all that was best and strongest in my fighting spirit and manhood
came out to meet the demand of the athletic leaders. It was at that time
that the thrill and power of college spirit took mighty possession of
me. It might have been the inspiring words of an old college leader
addressing us, or perhaps it was the story of some incident that brought
out the deep significance of the coming game. Indeed I have often
thought that the spirit of loyalty and sacrifice aroused in the breast
of the young man in a college mass meeting springs from the same noble
source as the highest patriotism.


MASS MEETING ENTHUSIASM

How well do I recall the mass meeting held by the undergraduates in
Alexander Hall Thursday night before the Yale game in 1898! The team and
substitutes sat in the front row of seats. There was singing and