UNIONS AT OTHER COLLEGES

There are Institutions comparable to the Harvard Union in a great many of the other universities and larger colleges, and those of Brown, Yale, Michigan, and Wisconsin have been selected for a comparative review. It will be found that all of these organizations share in the purpose of providing a comfortable and convenient meeting place for the university at large, and of furnishing a common attraction for a great cosmopolitan group.

The Brown Union is housed in Rockefeller Hall, a gift of Mr. John D. Rockefeller, and is the real centre of Brown life. It is the accepted place for college mass meetings, addresses before the students, and especially for a series of College Nights, run jointly by the Union and the Christian Association. This latter organization also has its home in Rockefeller Hall, its object being to centralize and direct the religious activity of Brown men. The work of the Association is nonsectarian and covers a wide field, including the management of the Employment and Equipment Bureaus, social extension work in the city, classes for special study and the like.

The aim of the Brown Union is to bring into closer touch than would otherwise be possible all Brown men,--undergraduates, faculty, and alumni. It is managed by undergraduate officers and committees, together with a graduate secretary and graduate board, and its policies are shaped with the purpose of effecting a better and stronger Brown spirit. Membership is open to all past and present members of the university. Practically eight-five per cent, of the undergraduates and a large number of alumni, both in Providence and out of the city, are members. Membership in the Union for undergraduates and active membership for graduates is $4 a year; associate membership is $3 a year; and non-resident membership for alumni is $2 a year. Life membership for alumni is $40, and for undergraduates $50.

The Reading Room offers newspapers from the cities from which Brown students come, and a complete file of the leading magazines and periodicals. The Trophy Room contains various athletic trophies won by Brown men, and there is also a comfortably furnished Lounging and Smoking Room. The Union Dining Room accommodates a large proportion of the students and a Lunch Room is kept open during the day. The various college papers are published in the building, including "The Brown Herald," "The Brunonian," and "The Liber Bruensis."

Low Membership Fee at Michigan.

In turning to the Michigan Union, it is interesting to note the variety of organized entertainments which are carried on under its supervision, and also the fact that the membership fee is but $2 a year. In addition to about 2700 regular members, there are 150 life members, who are charged a fee of $50, payable in five yearly installments of $10 each. While inadequate to the size of the organization, the Union club house serves many purposes. Its Dining Rooms are well patronized and the Reading and Billiard Rooms furnish convenient pleasure and amusement for a great many students. Practically all smokers and dinners are given in the Union, and there is a dance, open to all members for 50 cents, given every Saturday night, the usual attendance being from 75 to 100 couples. Every Friday night is held a so-called "Lounger" when men gather informally to play cards and the like. Under the auspices of Mimes, an adjunct of the Union, an opera is given every year. Five performances are given in Ann Arbor, and last year the cast presented the play at Chicago. Early in the year the Union conducts rooming and employment agencies, and has been very successful along these lines. As to the future of the Union, the goal is at present the securing of money for the erection of a million dollar club house, the plans for which represent it as one of the best of its kind.

Y. M. C. A. Functions as Union at Yale.

Coming back to the consideration of a similar institution in an eastern university, Yale is found to have no exact counterpart to the Harvard Union, but many of its functions are fulfilled by the centres of Y. M. C. A. Activity in the academic department and in the Sheffield Scientific School, the headquarters of the first being Dwight Hall and of the second, Byers Hall. These buildings are open to all members of the University. In both, there is a first-class grill-room furnishing good food at moderate prices. There are, however, no ladies' restaurants nor rooms where private dinners may be served. The libraries contain a variety of books and are located in rooms easily accessible to the reading rooms where a large number of magazines and newspapers are kept on file. Writing rooms are provided in Byers Hall, and billiard rooms are found in both buildings. No university organizations have their offices in either of these institutions, but rooms are available for any bodies desiring to use them, although they have been closed to musical clubs. In Byers Hall there are a few rooms which are rented to students, but there are no guest accommodations. There is a barber shop in the same hall, and smokers' articles are on sale in the billiard rooms. Byers is more used than Dwight and is the more active of the two in providing recreation for students. One university paper, the Yale Sheffield Monthly, has its office in the basement of Byers Hall.

In connection with the present institutions at Yale, it may be said that the alumni have taken hold of the proposition to erect a Union building. A committee has been appointed to get information concerning the Harvard and Oxford Unions and to investigate the best course to take in adapting the Union to Yale's interests, customs, and traditions of undergraduate life. It has been decided that a suitable building and equipment will cost about $500,000.

The Union of the University of Wisconsin has been chosen as another example of a western college institution. It is not yet housed in its own building, renting parts of the Y. M. C. A. for its purposes. Its aim, however, is much the same as that of the other Unions, the general purpose being to minister to the social needs of the male students of the University. If anything, it leans more to efforts of furnishing this entertainment by way of dances, "mixers," and smokers than the Unions of the other colleges.

Membership Free at Wisconsin.

The chief source of income of the Wisconsin Union are the dances, vaudeville performances, billiards, pool, and candy stand. All male students are members of the Union so that the problem of finances presents a severe difficulty. As a result, those forms of entertainment which might in any way be lucrative have been resorted to. For the dances, Lathrop Hall, the social institution for the women of the University, is at present rented, and the vaudeville bills are presented in the gymnasium, so that the need of a central building is keenly felt. The activities are managed and directed by various committees.

Although Princeton has no institution which can in any way be compared to the Harvard Union, it is planning to build a University Club along similar lines. At present it is suggested to have the membership open to all members of the university and faculty. All the offices of extra-curriculum activities will be centered here, and possibly a small theatre will be attached. A grill room, library, and all the appurtenances of a club will be included.