Seventy Years Of The Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Page 269

began to recognize that the institution possessed more breadth and dignity than had formerly been attributed to it. The new athletic plant helped to crystallize this opinion; so did the glamorous celebration of the semicentennial. Various undergraduate activities also played a part.

Early in 1913, students had proposed the establishment of a Tech Senate. The original proposal was rather indefinite and was not considered by the faculty to be workable. Revisions of the original plan in December of that year resulted in the creation of the Tech Council, designed to coordinate student actitivies and to serve as a court to which misunderstandings might be referred. It was composed of nine members, the presidents of the four classes, two seniors-at-large, one junior-at-large, and two faculty members. Dr. Haynes and Mr. St. John were chosen by the faculty as its representatives; Richard L. Keith, '14, was elected first president. One of the earliest major decisions of the Council was that football and baseball, both under attack, would be retained as intercollegiate sports. The Interfraternity Council, organized on a tentative basis in 1911, was firmly established in 1915. The original faculty representatives were Prof. H. B. Smith and Dr. Bullard. One of the first constructive acts of this Council was to supply an incentive for higher scholarship among fraternity men. Professor Smith provided a small bronzed plaster replica of the famous Rodin statue, "The Thinker," which was put into competition in 1916, to be awarded annually to the chapter having the highest average grades.

Another local fraternity, Kappa Xi Alpha, joined the ranks of the national group in June, 1915, when it was inducted as Epsilon Deuteron chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa. A Catholic Club was organized that spring; two years later it took the name of the Newman Club. The student Y. M. C. A. continued to increase its service to students, not only in religious lines, housing and part-time work, but in social affairs. A series of Tech Mixers was arranged, each of which was followed by open house at a nearby faculty or alumni home.

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