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THE MAROON TIGER
Page 7
OPEN FORUM |
DOOMED—BUT MUST NOT DIE
Flagrant and poignant criticisms have been rampant
on the campus this term. Whether this critical period
carries with it an epidemic of discontent we cannot as
certain. Surely there must be confusion somewhere. In
every nook of activity eyes have been peering for taint
and hokum. Few organizations on the campus have been
immune from attack and flout. However, this is no war
rant that fairness has prevailed in every instance of
censure.
This question has been raised as to whether the Y.
M. C. A. has lost its influence on the campus. Influence
means power arising from character. It is assumed that
Y. M. C. A. means an organization working towards the
development of manly ideals. What influence has the
Y. M. C. A. ever had?
There was a time when the Y. M. C. A. was looked
upon as the center of social control on the campus. It
used to maintain progressive leadership. Moreover, peo
ple and organizations off the campus used to rely upon
it for direction and forward movements.
How did the Y. M. C. A. lose its influence on the
campus? First, it has neglected the duties encumbered
upon it by a smart and changing civilization. Its in
ability to stimulate right thinking and develop correct
attitudes has left it a victim of a decaying order that
was destined to give rise to a new and better order. Hence,
static and barren organizations like the Y. M. C. A. had
to yield their power to organizations of vigor, of serv
ice, and of movement. People no longer support or
ganizations because they promise to do, but because they
do. The Y. M C. A. had more say so than do so. In
deed, people seldom honor begging lists these days.
Those people who once gave the Y. M. C. A. liberal do
nations withdrew their support. The status of the Y.
M. C. A. became dismal and precarious.
When the Student Activity Committee was organized
the Y. M. C. A. was a participating member. After
only a year’s membership with the Student Activity
Committee it withdrew. The Y. M. C. A. was accused
of failing to perform democratic and helpful services
to the student-body. It became an association for cer
tain young men. Inasmuch as the Administration of the
Y. M. C. A. squandered funds, they flaunted and gig
gled about their “good thing.”
The Y. M. C. A. was condemned as a marvelous racket.
With exceptions, of course, there are four major class
es of students connected with the Y. M. C. A. There
are those looking for scholarships, the conference-going
type, the ice cream-eating type and the gudgeons, or
suckers. The first three types are usually upper-class
men, while lower-classmen usually fall into the rank of
chumps. The first three types pretend that they work
for the interest of students when they really use the
Y. M. C. A. as a pony for a purpose, which they ride
ingloriously to stations of selffish comfort. They pant
after fame at the expense of service. They have low
appetites, for they are inspired by voracity rather than
virtue.
The Y. M. C. A. is dominated by a laissez-faire psychol
ogy that masquerades under the garb of “it can’t be
done.” When one asks the Y. M. C. A. for decision on
problems it oscillates rather than hew to the core of
them. Indeed, it has not been sensitive to the needs
and passions of the New Collegian. Moreover, it has
not learned that when mountains rise up before it, that
it must grow with the mountains.
The Y. M. C. A.’s best selling argument is the per
sonal plunder one. They point to the opportunity to
make trips to the Bulls-Eye-Conference, the scholarships
given by the interracial forum and the closed monthly
ice cream feast. They maintain that since they provice
the Freshman social, since they provide a Mock library
in Graves Hall, since they conduct Thursday Night chapel,
that they do contribute to the “spiritual and moral life”
of students. But the Freshman Social is only sweet
bait with which to entice Freshmen into their fold. The
few borrowed books and the scant peace foundation
sheets are not only wasteful, but disgraceful. The li
brary might accomplish a lofty purpose if the material
were placed in the main library, because it would at
least be seen if not read. Thursday night chapel, in .its
present state, is but brutal punishment; it is morbid
formality that does more injury than good. The re
ports from conferences are boresome and stagnant. In
that, they embrace the same features every year. Such
as “we had a fine meeting”, and “Mr. Jimmie made a
phenomenal speech.” Social extortion, sublime mer-
cenarying, and mild racketeering are evils entailed in
the system. In that, the personnel are Pharisees of
service.
Again, we may condemn the Y. M. C. A. as a donkey
hauling the interracial form around on its back. They
are gullible, thus becoming flunkies for the interracial
form. The interracial forum only meets at Negro col
leges.
Let us go into the inner workings of the Y. M. C. A.
It has not defined its objectives in intelligible language.
It lurks behind such blanket expressions as “being for
the spiritual, intellectual and moral welfare of man.”
These are broad, nominal expressions that are lacking
in concrete, specific and serious interpretation. The Y.
M. C. A. has not pinned to these abstract terms situa
tions in which they may be realized. Only when these
objectives are shown to be accomplished by doing defin
ite things will we be willing to conceive them as being
fundamental in our life.
The administration of the Y. M. C. A. has failed to
outline a feasible program. It retains a distorted con
ception of an outworn program that does not fit into
our lives. The items of this program are so languid
and obsolete that one would not readily recognize them.
Such a program assumes the importance of the Y. M.
C. A. by virtue of its quiet and careless existence. This
program assumes that ideals may be achieved today as
they were in the past. The same ideals, we grant, may
exist today as in the past, but the methods of realizing
them have to be changed.
The “Y” clings to this old-fashioned program because
our forefathers used it, and forefathers used it because
they did not know any better. It is a program that of
fers to sell more than the Y. M. C. A. really has in
stock to sell. Indeed, it places on the market “spiritual
and moral welfare ’ without being able to produce it.
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