Page:Lippincotts Monthly Magazine-40.djvu/307

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SOCIAL LIFE AT YALE.
293

vard or other seats of learning. From the time a Freshman enters college to the day of his graduation, he never tires of inscribing his class numerals on recitation-benches, the doors of his apartments, or other places where they would be conspicuous. Loyalty to one's class is most extravagantly displayed among the Sophomores and Freshmen, and becomes less noticeable, although perhaps just as strong, toward the end of the four years' course. In any matter in which the interests, athletic or otherwise, of the whole university are involved, all class-feeling disappears, and the entire student-community becomes a unit in the support of its Alma Mater. A Yale man is a Yale man the country over, and, be he rich or poor, he is welcomed by any Yale alumnus whom he may meet, with a cordiality that admits of no restraint, and a heartiness that quickly sweeps away all barriers.

The man who assists in hazing you in Freshman year, and who compels you to stand on a street-corner and scan Greek verse for the edification of the by-standers, is no less your friend because he enjoys your discomfiture while passing through the ordeal which he himself was obliged to undergo the year before. Although hazing, in its offensive signification, is practically dead and buried at Yale, a few of the old-time customs are still tenderly cherished by the Sophomores. Despite the assertions of the daily press, there are no such outrages perpetrated as were of frequent occurrence in the college days of our fathers and grandfathers. The "freshest" Freshmen are not treated to any greater indignity than being compelled to drink hot beer through a straw or to sip milk from a nursing-bottle. College sentiment no longer sanctions the barbarous treatment formerly inflicted on new-comers to Yale, and all objectionable forms of hazing are frowned upon by the students and the faculty alike.

A true democratic spirit prevails among the undergraduates. No man is looked down upon because he is poor or of humble birth. Many a student who has "worked his way through" has attained greater popularity than his wealthier classmates. The universally popular men at Yale are those who do not affiliate too closely with any one set of fellows, and who have a knack of making their influence felt without exhibiting a domineering spirit.

No men in college are more esteemed and respected than the Yale athletes. And this is only just. To acquire prominence in any branch of athletics requires an amount of hard work and stern self-denial which can hardly be appreciated by one who has not "been through the mill." The training is long and rigorous, and involves an almost complete abandonment of that personal comfort so dear to every collegian. Yale is celebrated for the uniform excellence of her crew, her