Seventy Years Of The Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Page 102

social organizations, which had been frowned upon theretofore, but stated that they did not "propose to chafe much under the restrictions at present imposed by maturer judgment." Harmless student pranks and the main events of the three years were chronicled in the veiled language of schoolboys. The professors were subjected to remarkably little criticism, but the word went forth that no more such books would be tolerated. A later commentary assumed that this ban was due to a repressive attitude on the part of the administration. "We are here for a nobler purpose," was the ironic comment, "we have not a minute to throw away upon a publication; in virtue of our short and necessarily crowded course, our success in life depends upon our dropping everything else, and subjecting our stay to one continuous grind."

This appeared in an editorial among the "Reminiscences of Seventy-Seven," an admirably written but fiery little book that gave expression to the pent-up forces of student opinion. Prudent, its editors withheld the publication until after graduation. In the ranks of faculty and trustees it must have had the effect of a bombshell. It bore down heavily on faculty restrictions on student organizations, publications and other extra-curricular activities, which it believed might have served as pleasant changes from a life of arduous routine, without serious effect on the quality or amount of work accomplished. It charged the faculty with not daring to risk the loss of "any of that petty authority which they have been wont to exercise." Specifically, the editors deprecated the use of bulldozing in the classroom, and the demand for written apologies when students attempted to defend themselves. They charged certain departments with incompetency and criticized the shop management for not permitting students to tackle any of the work that required skill. Physics lectures they characterized as "the vaguest kind of talk," and the time spent on making a chart of English literature was "a stupid waste." Some uncomplimentary remarks were included about "cram" examinations and the "personal estimate" in marking.

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Last Modified: Fri Jul 30 11:15:25 EDT 1999