Derby Day Faces Extinction; Yalies Discuss, Defend Fete

Derby Day, one of Yale's oldest and freest traditions may have ended with the 1950 celebration.

The Undergraduate Activities Committee, which has been considering the problem of Derby Day for some time, on Monday threw the whole question to the student body for "open discussion."

Usually scheduled in mid-April, and ostensibly centered around a crew race, Derby Day has in the past connoted something considerably above more athletic excitement. Last year, for example, one freshman was so carried away by the spirit of it all that he walked right out of his third floor room, via the window.

This attitude of carefree abandon is one of the main arguments in the current drive to eliminate Derby Day. Critics call the weekend-long festival "a debauchery, and a bad reflection on Yale."

University officials are not enthusiastic. They remember another incident of last year's Day, when rioting on the Old Campus caused the Administration to place a whole dormitory on probation.

Meanwhile, Yalies rallied to defend Derby Day, led by the News, which editorially urged student action. "React and write," said the News, "a lethargic reaction spells virtually the end."