WHAT THE WELL-DRESSED SENIOR WILL WEAR

In 1342 John de Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote a vigorous rebuke to the student of Oxford and Cambridge, denouncing them for their excess of scholarly apparel. It is evident that the students of the class of 1923 have taken to heart the words of the old archbishop. Certainly the Yard has suffered from no excess of scholarly apparel during the past week.

There are, of course, weighty arguments to explain the Senior's hesitation in donning Cap and Gown. No doubt he dislikes to be reminded of how near he has come to the end of "bright college years". Perhaps, too, being of a prudent disposition, he has stored away his dignified robes to keep them unsoiled for Commencement. But modesty has probably been his strongest motive: "Nobody else is doing it." Conspicuousness is not particularly pleasant; it is easier to follow the leader. And the natural leaders, the class officers, have been as hesitant as any about beginning the custom: no doubt their extra crimson decorations 'make them feel even more self-conscious.

But the custom, properly pursued, has its uses: it enhances the dignity of the Seniors: it gives the Freshmen something to talk about, and it reminds the rest of the University that the scholarly pursuits which the costume typifies do play some part in the life of the undergraduate, in spite of all that has been said to the contrary.'

There are few conventions of any sort at the University, and those that have survived the long sifting process deserve to be enforced. The tradition of the Cap and Gown is a worthy one to preserve. It has been bequeathed to scholars of the present by scholars of past centuries, and in spite of occasional rebuffs, such as the opinion of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the apparent disregard of Harvard Seniors, it is likely to survive for some time to come even after June twenty-first, 1923.