Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. IV.djvu/247

WOODROW WILSON 207 tion of the social life of the campus. For ten years he had been turning over in his mind a plan by which the exclusive clubs patronized by the wealthier of the upper classmen might be super seded by a number of "quadrangles," dormitories in which a certain number of men from each class together with several instructors should have their domicile. This would assure a commingling of all the students, the upper classmen demonstrating the value of the college training they were receiving and the lower classmen, through personal contact, receiving an impetus and inspiration for their further college career. As it was, Princeton had a dozen "swell" club-houses, to which only students possessed of large means could afford to belong. The aggregate value of these buildings and their elegant furnishings was upwards of a million dol lars. The membership averaged about fifteen seniors and fifteen juniors each, the members of these two classes alone being eligible. Some three hundred or more other members of the senior and junior classes were excluded. Freshmen and espe cially sophomores engaged in fierce rivalry in their efforts to "make" a club. Their spirit was the dominant character- forming influence on the Princeton campus. It can readily be imagined how eagerly the democratic heart of President Wilson was throbbing in his desire to overthrow this perni cious system so alien to the American ideal.