How Much Supervision
On the question of whether a young man at the college level should be so supervised or left entirely alone, Father O'Brien explains. "We believe that we are only assuming those responsibilities that parents would assume at home--and the parents seem to like the idea. If the boy were at home, his parents would like to know where he is."
Strangely enough, all these regulations and restrictions seem only to increase the spirit and pride of Holy Cross men for their Alma Mater. This last word in community living, a closeness of interests and patterns of living almost forced on the students, results in a greater interest in all facets of the college life than develops from the Harvard system of relaxed, or non-existent rulings.
This interest has shown up in the march of the student body, 1800 strong, through the streets of Worcester in a welcome to returning football coach Dr. Eddie Anderson. Athlete worship also crops up occasionally, with 1942 backfield great Johnny Grigas being served nectar in the dining hall for a week after an unexpected Louisiana State victory.
The average Holy Cross man also believes, probably correctly, that he has to work harder scholastically than his Cambridge counterpart. Six courses per term are a normal requirement, with little leeway, even in the upper classes, in choice of electives.
Choice of a major is left until the end of the sophomore year, but freshman placement test results in many cases point the way to immediate determination of the entire curriculum. Attendance at all classes is, of course, compulsory, and excess of ten percent cutting leads to trouble.
Classes sometimes run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., leaving little opportunity for anything but study in the evening. Parietal rules also, of course, leave little opportunity for anything but study in the evening.
Disciplinary control are probably least popular when they carry into extracurricular activities, each of which has a faculty supervisor. As a result of administrative control, the Holy Cross student government, while very active and efficient, performs far more service than advisory functions.
Financially the school has a small scholarships fund of about $500,000. Tuition, board, and room come to $1,000 a year per man. Athletic scholarships, Father O'Brien admits, are granted in accordance with N.C.A.A. regulations--tuition only--but preference in part-time jobs is given to the athlete.
Jesuits Accept No Salary
The college is able to toe the line between red and black mainly because the Jesuits, the principal teaching order of the priesthood, are allowed to accept no pay.
A large number of the Jesuits and lay instructors, the latter chosen more on teaching ability than on being "top men in their fields," live with the 1500 boarding students in the small, single-room quarters of seven dormitories, which are occupied according to class. Most of the dormitories have classrooms on the lower floors, there being no separate class buildings.
In a large central dining hall the entire student body is served at a sitting by student waiters. The food leaves no cause for griping--with steak and chops several times a week.
No Large Donations
Aside from these buildings and a new biology building under construction, the physical plan consists of Fitton Field, with a small football stadium seating 20,000, and a large, gray quonset hut-like structure high on the hill which houses the Holy Cross Athletic Association and six constantly-crammed basketball courts. While admitting that increased facilities would be very desirable, both Father O'Brien and Athletic Director Eugene F. Flynn explain that "nobody dies and leaves us a million."
In spite of a lack of alumni millionaires, Holy Cross graduates do not do badly. Whether or not they all attained the ideal of "a flexibility of mind, imagination, and interests, and a high standard of social responsibility, rather than specialized studies and ability," at least in the past few years of its 103-year history the college has placed 100 percent of its graduates--whole men or not--in jobs or in graduate schools.