PREPARATORY SCHOOL ALUMNI DAY

Yale and Princeton in particular among the eastern colleges have considered a plan of an alumni day for preparatory school men. This plan is to set one Saturday during the spring when all undergraduates may go back to their respective schools, and be excused from college appointments on that day. The principals of many of the schools, including Andover and Exeter, have already expressed their approval of such a plan and promised the colleges their heartiest support in settling the question of the date.

Any movement which encourages college men to visit their schools is beneficial in strengthening the every weakening ties between the preparatory schools and their graduates. Although an alumni day of this kind primarily benefits the schools, the college also gains something. The fact of a large number of graduates visiting their school from one particular college, cannot help impressing the younger boys who are beginning to think of college. The presence and conversation of such a body of alumni would be an unconscious advertisement for the particular college they happened to attend. In this way the gathering of all the graduates from the many colleges at one time would be advantageous to those who attend different colleges, and undoubtedly worth while for the schools and colleges participating.

The Student Council at Yale has already conferred with ten preparatory schools, and the third Saturday in May was decided upon as the date best suited to all parties. The faculty has approved the proposed plan and promised to co-operate with the schools in regard to excusing men from college appointments. This scheme only includes the men coming from private schools, but should all those who come from easily accessible schools, both public and private, be allowed to return on a particular day the resulting advantages would be more far-reaching. Since Harvard is situated in the centre of an area comprising the largest number of preparatory schools in the country, the possible difficulty of a prohibitory distance of the schools from the college can be disregarded.

If Harvard could work out a plan with the neighboring preparatory schools, and in conjunction with the other eastern colleges, one more important step would be made towards a closer union between school and college.