PRINCETON GOVERNMENT COMPARED WITH CRIMSON

Among the universities who plan to attend the Intercollegiate Conference at M. I. T. on April 15 and 16, Princeton, which is one of the members of the Executive Committee of the Conference, is probably the one whose plan of Student Government, in the hands of a Senior Council, is the furtherest developed.

Since the inauguration of the Honor System, Princeton has always had a plan of Student Government in which the powers of the Senior Council are very great. But it remained for the present year to see the greatest advance in the scope of the Council's powers. Late in February the Faculty of Princeton University approved a resolution giving to the Senior Council the power to recommend dismissal from Princeton without any statement of cause or submission of evidence to the Discipline Committee of the Faculty or to any other body. Such a step gives the Council almost unlimited power over the discipline and morale of the university. It is sure to form a part of the discussion on methods of student government at the intercollegiate Conference.

Commenting on the resolution, President Hibben said: "We are now taking a further and, we believe, important step in this direction (speaking of the Honor System). Students are unwilling to report the misdeeds of their fellows to an outside body. It is occasionally, however, known to them that certain members of the University commit actions or are guilty of conduct which, in their own words, are hurting the good name of Princeton and the moral tone of the place."

Princeton's action in this respect corresponds to the rule of the Student Council at the University which declares that it is the power of the Council "to investigate any infringement of College rules that it may see fit, with the power of recommendation to the University executive." The difference is that in the case of Princeton it is specifically stated that the cause and evidence need not be given with the recommendation.

Apart from this new development, the systems of student government in use at Princeton and at the University differ in many essential respects. Chief among these is the fact that according to the plan in vogue in Princeton the Senior Council has a more intimate jurisdiction over the daily life of the students and the general morale and tone of the university. Specifically, this jurisdiction in expressed in the control of the Honor System, with the power and obligation to punish all infractions of the System, in the prescription and maintenance of all campus customs, and in general jurisdiction over all matters concerning undergraduate life on the campus. Provisions are also made for the regulation of intra-collegiate athletics.

Councils' Purposes Differ

At the University on the other hand the purpose of the Council "is to cooperate thoroughly with the Faculty in raising the intellectual standard at Harvard, . . . to bring before the governing bodies of the University expression of undergraduate opinion on subjects pertaining to the University, and to cooperate with the Athletic Committee in eradicating the evils in the conduct of athletics." These ends are obtained by means of the power to regulate the methods of competitions and of participation in athletics, to confer with the various committees of the University, and to investigate all facts and material connected with undergraduate life.

Of importance in any consideration of student government at Princeton is the Honor System, Princeton's most cherished institution. It was founded in 1893 and has been the model for the system adopted in a large number of universities and colleges of the country. The operation of the system is simple and is entirely in the hands of an undergraduate Honor Committee, whose recommendations are always carried out by the Faculty.

At Princeton the membership of the governing body combines the elements of popular election, ex-officio membership, and self-perpetuation. The President of the Senior class is the only ex-officio member; seven men are elected by the Senior class (eight if the president of the class prior to his election to office shall have already been elected to the council); and seven men are elected to the council by the members of the outgoing council and those already elected to the new council sitting together. In the University on the other hand the men on the Student Council are chosen from all the classes and more on account of the undergraduate positions they hold than by election.