When Professor White was speaking before the new students upon the physical and athletic life of the University, he had neither the time nor, perhaps, a fitting opportunity to speak of the exact relations which exist between the Committee on the Regulation of Athletic Sports and the students. Yet these relations are so important and so grossly misunderstood by the majority of the students that we earnestly hope that some faculty member of Harvard's much abused athletic committee may explain in some way to the great body of the students exactly the province of the athletic committee. It is a matter of vital importance to our athletic interests that such an explanation should be made.

In the spring of 1888 the oversight of our athletics was taken from the sole authority of the faculty and transferred to that of a representative committee, made up of three faculty members, three graduates and three undergraduates. It has been steadily the aim of this committee to centralize and unify our athletics in order to strengthen them. In following out this policy the committee has sometimes been obliged to take some action whose wisdom the students have not been able to see. The result in several cases has been very unfortunate. Last spring the base ball difficulty arose entirely because an undergraduate did not understand clearly the functions of the athletic committee. The consequence was that there was considerable talk even in college against the committee; while outside the college, where no one understood the matter, the committee was generally condemned.

For the progress of Harvard athletics the wise supervision of this committee is vital. Together with the graduate advisory committees of the various sports, the committee has worked untold benefits for aur othletics. We should be helpless without it. The students realize this; yet they demand justly an opportunity to learn the relations of the committee - to understand satisfactorily its position, in order that they may take that same position and work together with the committee.

We hope that the athletic committee will try to enlighten the students in the way it deems wisest.