I have any reason to believe that the faculties will become wiser or that the administrations will lead the students to true gods; not at all, but I do think that the students themselves will find a way. They have already abandoned Mammon; at least, the most intelligent have, and I begin to see signs of less adoration for athletics. Athletics, of course, have their place, and some of the students are be¬ ginning to find that place. Certainly the alumni have n’t, and I don’t believe that the administrative officers have, either. Just so long as athletes advertise the college, the administrations will coddle them. The undergraduates, however, show signs of frowning on professionalism, and the stupid athlete is rapidly losing his prestige. An athlete has to show something more than brawn to be a hero among his fellows nowadays.”
He paused, and Pudge spoke up. “Perhaps you are right,” he said, “but I doubt it. Athletics are certainly far more important to us than anything else, and the captain of the football team is always the biggest man in college. But I don’t care par¬ ticularly about that. What I want to know is how the colleges justify their existence. I don’t see that you have proved that they do.”
“No, I haven’t,” Henley admitted, “and I don’t know that I can prove it. Of course, the colleges are n’t perfect, not by a long way, but as human in¬ stitutions go, I think they justify their existence.
