Recognizing that their purpose here is an education, they nevertheless look upon that education as a means, not an end: appreciating fully the value of books, they know that book-knowledge alone will not give them practical success in the world. To such students society is a pleasurable means of recreation, a vast reservoir from which to draw a knowledge of men and motives.
Recitation-hours at the university begin at eight a.m. and continue until one p.m. There are also a few lectures in the afternoon, and many of the men in the technical courses have work in the shops or laboratories which occupies them during a part of the afternoon. Three times each week also the Freshmen and Sophomores must appear at the gymnasium for military drill or for compulsory gymnasium exercise. The rest of the time is entirely at the students' disposal. They study, read, or amuse themselves as they feel disposed.
Sunday is most decidedly a day of rest. An hour or two extra sleep in the morning, the choice of church, reading, or a walk or talk with a friend (not always a male one) for the remainder of the day, and a book or a friend (same remark as above) for the evening,—such is the Sunday life of the student.
Of course in the above we have only shown the possible ways in which the student can occupy his time. The ways in which he does occupy it are as many as the number of students here. The one thing that you do not find at Cornell is idleness. It is a poor place for either lounging or dreaming. Linked with and perhaps partly causing this activity is an intense earnestness. Every man at Cornell has some distinct aim, and in choosing his studies he selects those that will be of practical use to him. He is therefore always interested in his work, and hence always earnest.
The one other characteristic of Cornell students is honesty. There are two causes that tend to make Cornell students thoroughly honest, in the broadest sense of the term: the vast majority of them come from the middle classes, and the policy of the university is to give to its students absolute freedom in thought, word, and deed.
Having nothing to hide, the student hides nothing; he enters no back doors, he develops no sneaking tendencies nor hypocritical actions; treated as a man, he is a man; and the spirit of manliness thus engendered he carries with him throughout his college career, and enters life not only with habits of thought which will help him in his struggle for subsistence, but also with habits of life which will make him a good citizen and a true man.
