Since the present senior class came to college the whole tone of college life at Harvard has changed, and it has changed for the better. It is interesting to note these changes, and to recall the condition which brought them about. Before 1887-88 the restrictions upon the personal liberty of a student amounted to very little. He was nominally obliged to attend recitations, but so little was the rule regarded that it was the custom for a party of no small number to take an extended tour during the winter term. Athletics were not under control. Athletic organizations might leave Cambridge at will, and men who had very little standing in their class might represent the University on athletic teams. The result was that Harvard was looked upon as a place where a very loose government had control. Outsiders criticized harshly, and finally the overseers took the matter in hand and made an investigation of the causes of the out-cry. They made certain recommendations to the Faculty, and a committee was appointed who on June 12, 1888, made an exhaustive report of the condition of athletics together with many suggestions which on the whole have proved to be wise. This report recognized the usefulness of athletics but advised the regulation of college sports by the Faculty. Since then the Committee on the Regulation of Athletic Sports has had full power over all matters relating to athletics and athletic contests. The first set of rules which they prescribed are contained in the set published for this year with one exception-the rule forbidding a college club or athletic association to play or compete with professionals has been repealed. This year's set of rules contains more than that first set; the regulations are gradually placing the athletic students more and more under the eyes of the Faculty. The danger now is that the committee will over-run itself and load the students with too much red-tape and too many regulations.

In 1888-89 the Faculty began to restrict the liberties of students on probation, and later made attendance on lectures more compulsory, and obliged men to return to college on the prescribed days. Everything tends toward the more direct supervision of the undergraduate, which is for the best if not carried too far. When the tone of the college has been raised to the proper point, it will be harmful for the Faculty not to recognize the fact. There is a limit to the amount of beneficial supervision just as there is a point where supervision is necessary.