The recent commotion at Vassar seems to have been but a "tempest in a teapot," notwithstanding the reports which have been heralded abroad to the contrary. A small occurrence, dragged into prominence by a few newspapers, has naturally been magnified far beyond its proper proportions. The gist of the whole matter is simply this, that the present system of conferring honors is considered by many of the students to be unjust, since it frequently permits those to obtain honors who are not considered by the college to have earned them. This led to a mild kind of a revolt, which was speedily checked by the faculty, who forced into taking honors those who had previously declined, on penalty of losing their degrees. It is but a natural outcome of having a faculty which takes but little note, if any, of student feeling in matters which are of the greatest moment to the morale of the latter.

It is much to be regretted that such wide prominence has been given to an occurrence which is significant only as marking the feeling everywhere against the old conservative system of governing a college. Far more harm than good results from this injurious spreading of college disturbances by newspapers who seek only to be sensational. The college world is particularly its own, and this needless prying into it by outsiders is only to be condemned. It may come about, to be sure, that there are evils of importance to be corrected, which might be remedied by being placed before the country, but in general it is far better to give much less publicity to these slight disturbances.