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SUNDAY MAGAZINE
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 1922
Oxford University--It's Student Life,
Traditions and Customs
[ntroductory Note: While It is not cently become a resident of Ann Ar- marily a place of learning or a place start on Tuesday at the beginning of
custom and shall not be the cus- bor. Mr. Jefferson says that the first of examination. It is a place where the new year, they really start. In
a of the Sunday Magazine to ,kun impression that stimulates the visitor one lives three years. It is as such Oxford it seems to take a long time
icles serially, the Sunday Editor at Oxford is a feeling of age, respect, that it differs so markedly from the to get under way; everyone leisurely
lieves that the following article is conservatism, and venerability which typical American university, With takes his time. In America very dei-
e that warrants the breaking of the the very buildings and grounds them- few exceptions, every student lives nite assignments of reading are given,
.e. selves inspire. Located in the city of within his own college walls. If he while at Oxford one has trouble in
: agree with him, and I cannot fore- Oxford, a city of about 60,000 popu- is reading for his degree at Christ Col- finding out just what is expected of
a word of introduction to this ar- lation, the university itself has fewer lege or at Orion, there he lives. Even him, just what he should and should
le. It could not be done justice in students than the Uiversity of Mich- breakfast is served in his room, and not do.
t little less space than the original igan. Each college, a complete entity, lunch, too, if he likes. But all dine That consultations with instructors
nuscript occupied, and on account is surrounded by its own ancient in the hall. are, as a rule, vague and unsatisfac-
its length it will have to appear in walls, has its own faculty, executives, Even the necessary process of eat- tory may be a point of common ground
o issues. chapel, classrooms, dormitories, din- ing is tinged with antiquity. As the between the two types of universities.
:t is an account of Oxford and its ing halls, athletic field and boat-house. men enter the hall they are seated in An American student in Oxford has
.dents, and hence, in a manner, of The old stone structures, most of their order of residence at college, and said, "As time passed, we became ac-
glish universities and their human them of the Tudor type of architecture it is here that one sees the only dis- customed to the method, and what
istituents. It is more than this, and some of the late Renaissance, are tinction between the freshmen and the seemed indifference and procrastina-
never; it is a comparison of Amer- commanding of respect in themselves. upperclassmen-the first-year men sit tion was found to be careful delibera-
n and English institutions of higher Hundreds of the most renowned men, at the lowest table. Portraits of great tion and conservatism."
rning. Almost needless to say, our many of them the best known English English leaders line the timbered At Oxford a man goes to college for
versitles suffer, just as they would statesmen, have been Oxford students. walls and glower down, as if in care- three terms of eight weeks each, so
comparison with French or Ger- Just the mere fact that one is attend- ful scrutiny, upon the' diners, stu- that the total time spent In the uni-
n educational centers. ing the same university that existed dents, and dons. In the subdued dim versity each year is about 24 weeks,
lut mistake not; the article is done before Columbus discovered America half-light, the black-gowned figures as compared with the average Ameri-
:hout rancor, without any spirit of fills one with awe. lend solemnity to the occasion. can school year of 35 to 40 weeks.
ticism. It is straightly told. That Within the walls of one of the col- Informality, in the sense of seem- Turning more. specifically to the
exposes the grubby complacency of leges, the beauty of the walks that ing irregularity or lack of central- academic side, the Oxford method does
a average American student, his intertwine the lovely gardens induces ization, is probably one of the most not employ text-books. They are not
ty contempt for things artistic, his a romantic mood. Some of the col- striking distinctions that the Amer- even written. The student studies his
gnitude of mind that prefers the leges have their own deer parks with ican visitor notices, as opposed to the subject, rather than "takes a course."
ailing of smutty jokes and the small forests and artificial lakes. The relative clock-like regularity of the Upon entering' the college of his se-
,ding of the sporting page to the very atmosphere is an inspiration to educational institutions in this coun- lection, each man is put under the
ding and talking of art, scien'ce, study. try. The American student on enter- guidance of a tutor, who Is at once
I philosophy, is entirely incidental. The portraits of the celebrated men ing Oxford may think the college in- his philosopher and friend. The com-
leed, the average American student, who have attended that institution are efficient because of its 20 or more plaint of a lack of personal touch can-
ding this article, would only be re- hung around the walls of the rooms complete separate colleges. He will not be registered by the English stu-
orced in his belief that he is worth in the college buildings. So, from day chafe at the paternalism which is dent, for with his tutor he has a much
r two Englishmen.-G. D. E. to day, as the student attends his lee- characteristic of the English schools; more intimate contact than he could
tures, as he browses in the library, he has to be in at a certain early hour have with any member of his Amer-
(By W. Bernard Butler) ambles along the picturesque walks, at night; shop bills which he may in- ican university faculty.
inglish and American universities or lounges on the shores of some cool cur are limited; the restrictions of Study Is a voluntary matter. Here
iw great contrasts, according to Mr. lake, he is surrounded by objects of personal liberties savor of high school the man Is Induced to study by many
D. Jefferson, formerly a resident of romance and musty adventure. , days. forceful devices, such as roll calls,
ord, England, for many years, re- Like Cambridge, Oxford is not pri- Af Michigan, however, if the classes (Continued on Page 2)
Iernard Shaw 's "ePygmalion "-- A Review
tellectual buffoon. He acts all the professor named Higgins, whose busi- ciously ignored facts grows a tense
parts himself, sets booby-traps for us, ness is the teaching of phonetics! 1 and diverting situation for both of
"Pygmalion" will be presented like the one at the end of the first act - them.
by the University of Michigan , He encounters one rainy night, after .*
bomy he Univeity of Mic of "Man and Superman," and clowns the theatre, a flower-girl of the Lon- One of Mrs. Patrick Campbell's dra-
Comedy club at 8:15 o'lock it with words and ideas like the wild- don slums, with the most outrageous- matic triumphs was made in this role
WdsdAngelvHall. Seatsarah eat Harlequin. Then the play stops, ly vulgar cockney accent. This Eliza of Eliza. That fact stamps the part
we At al'S ae while the audience devotes itself ex- is so "deliciously low; so horribly as a great one. From her first s-
n sale at clusively to laughter until it feels dirty," that she arouses the scientific pearance on the London stage as
spent and silly. Only occasionally do audacity of Professor Higgins. He Paula Tanqueray in the premiere of
the laughter, the conflicts, and the makes a bet with a friend that in three Pinero's first great drama, to the part
(By Prof. Oscar(J. Campbell) ideas march abreast throughout the months time, by simply teaching the of Desdemona, which it is said that
if all Shaw's works, "Pygmalion" is entire play as they do in "Pygmalion." girl the accent of the world of London she is to play to the Othello of Charles
haps the most effective play for The Greek hero of this name, it will society he can pass her off as a duch- Gilpin, the famous negro actor, she
stage. It begins with a picturesque be remembered, fell in love with an ess at an ambassador's garden party. has sought the parts that would give
1 striking scene which leads into ivory statue of a woman that he him- This satiric idea that the only differ- scope to her versatile and powerful
self had made. Aphrodite heard his ence betwen a "draggle-tailed gutter- talents. In this role she found un-
parkling act full of surprise and passionate prayers and granted life snipe" and a lady of the highest fash- usual opportunities for emotional act-
ghter; and it moves forward to the to this image, and the happy youth ion is one of speech forms a back- ing of a most unconventional sort.
by the most approved method of married the creature thus miraculous- ground of continuous amusement for The parts of Higgins, too, the eccen-
rp emotional conflicts and swift ly made flesh. Shaw's Pygmalion is the entire action of the play. tric scholar, and of Alfred Doolittle,
ic crises. He has written stronger this amorous Greek artist brought up Higgins goes to work with a will the rascally father of Eliza, are char-
, to date and, as it were, turned inside In his ridiculously detached and acter roles to tempt the most accom-
ai studies, such as "Mrs. Warrens out. This is one of Shaw's favorite straight forward manner, and wins his plished actors.
fession." He has given some of his modes of artistic creation. His Don bet. Eliza, though an apt pupil, is not Shaw, considerately enough, does
rished ideas larger and more fan- Juan-John Tanner in "Man and Su- immediately perfect, and her occasion- not interrupt these interesting per-
ic utterance, as in "Man and Su- perman"-is not an unscrupulous lib- al shocking breaks furnish food for sons with long speeches which he
man." But he has never written ertine, from whom no woman is safe, much laughter. But the scholar has makes them deliver for him. He has
but a militantly chaste young intel- forgotten that "making life means succeeded in writing not for himself
nore absorbing play. lectual, who flees unsuccessfully from making trouble." He has naively but for them,-in giving them effective
f course, "Pygmalion" is funny. an engaging young woman who is de- overlooked the fact that Eliza has a stage-business, crisp dialogue, and
.w can always make an audience termined to fulfill her destiny by mar- soul and that both he and she, despite dramatic situations. In short, he has
gh. But sometimes he works so rying him. So his Pygmalion is not their social distance, are creatures of written a comedy that delights both
d at the job that he plays the in- a youthful sculptor, but a middle-aged strong feelings. Out of these auda- actors and audences g every sort.