A Collection of College Words and Customs Part 14

CLa.s.sIC SHADES. A poetical appellation given to colleges and universities.

He prepares for his departure,--but he must, ere he repair To the "_cla.s.sic shades_," et cetera,--visit his "ladye fayre."

_Poem before Iadma_, Harv. Coll., 1850.

I exchanged the farm-house of my father for the "_cla.s.sic shades_"

of Union.--_The Parthenon_, Union Coll., 1851, p. 18.

CLa.s.sIS. Same meaning as Cla.s.s. The Latin for the English.

[They shall] observe the generall hours appointed for all the students, and the speciall houres for their own _cla.s.sis_.--_New England's First Fruits_, in _Ma.s.s. Hist. Coll._, Vol. I. p. 243.

CLa.s.s LIST. In the University of Oxford, a list in which are entered the names of those who are examined for their degrees, according to their rate of merit.

At the University of Cambridge, Eng., the names of those who are examined at stated periods are placed alphabetically in the cla.s.s lists, but the first eight or ten individual places are generally known.

There are some men who read for honors in that covetous and contracted spirit, and so bent upon securing the name of scholarship, even at the sacrifice of the reality, that, for the pleasure of reading their names at the top of the _cla.s.s list_, they would make the examiners a present of all their Latin and Greek the moment they left the schools.--_Collegian's Guide_, p.

327.

CLa.s.sMAN. See CLa.s.s.

CLa.s.s MARSHAL. In many colleges in the United States, a _cla.s.s marshal_ is chosen by the Senior Cla.s.s from their own number, for the purpose of regulating the procession on the day of Commencement, and, as at Harvard College, on Cla.s.s Day also.

"At Union College," writes a correspondent, "the cla.s.s marshal is elected by the Senior Cla.s.s during the third term. He attends to the order of the procession on Commencement Day, and walks into the church by the side of the President. He chooses several a.s.sistants, who attend to the accommodation of the audience. He is chosen from among the best-looking and most popular men of the cla.s.s, and the honor of his office is considered next to that of the Vice-President of the Senate for the third term."

CLa.s.sMATE. A member of the same cla.s.s with another.

The day is wound up with a scene of careless laughter and merriment, among a dozen of joke-loving _cla.s.smates_.--_Harv.

Reg._, p. 202.

CLa.s.s MEETING. A meeting where all the cla.s.s are a.s.sembled for the purpose of carrying out some measure, appointing cla.s.s officers, or transacting business of interest to the whole cla.s.s.

In Harvard College, no cla.s.s, or general, or other meeting of students can be called without an application in writing of three students, and no more, expressing the purpose of such meeting, nor otherwise than by a printed notice, signed by the President, expressing the time, the object, and place of such meeting, and the three students applying for such meeting are held responsible for any proceedings at it contrary to the laws of the College.--_Laws Univ. Cam., Ma.s.s._, 1848, Appendix.

Similar regulations are in force at all other American colleges.

At Union College the statute on this subject was formerly in these words: "No cla.s.s meetings shall be held without special license from the President; and for such purposes only as shall be expressed in the license; nor shall any cla.s.s meeting be continued by adjournment or otherwise, without permission; and all cla.s.s meetings held without license shall be considered as unlawful combinations, and punished accordingly."--_Laws Union Coll._, 1807, pp. 37, 38.

While one, on fame alone intent, Seek to be chosen President Of clubs, or a _cla.s.s meeting_.

_Harv. Reg._, p. 247.

CLa.s.sOLOGY. That science which treats of the members of the cla.s.ses of a college. This word is used in the t.i.tle of a pleasant _jeu d'esprit_ by Mr. William Biglow, on the cla.s.s which graduated at Harvard College in 1792. It is called, "_Cla.s.sology_: an Anacreontic Ode, in Imitation of 'Heathen Mythology.'"

See under HIGH GO.

CLa.s.s SECRETARY. For an account of this officer, see under CLa.s.s BOOK.

CLa.s.s SUPPER. In American colleges, a supper attended only by the members of a collegiate cla.s.s. Cla.s.s suppers are given in some colleges at the close of each year; in others, only at the close of the Soph.o.m.ore and Senior years, or at one of these periods.

CLa.s.s TREES. At Bowdoin College, "immediately after the annual examination of each cla.s.s," says a correspondent, "the members that compose it are accustomed to form a ring round a tree, and then, not dance, but run around it. So quickly do they revolve, that every individual runner has a tendency 'to go off in a tangent,' which it is difficult to resist for any length of time.

The three lower cla.s.ses have a tree by themselves in front of Ma.s.sachusetts Hall. The Seniors have one of their own in front of King Chapel."

For an account of a similar and much older custom, prevalent at Harvard College, see under CLa.s.s DAY and LIBERTY TREE.

CLIMBING. In reference to this word, a correspondent from Dartmouth College writes: "At the commencement of this century, the Greek, Latin, and Philosophical Orations were a.s.signed by the Faculty to the best scholars, while the Valedictorian was chosen from the remainder by his cla.s.smates. It was customary for each one of these four to treat his cla.s.smates, which was called '_Climbing_,' from the effect which the liquor would have in elevating the cla.s.s to an equality with the first scholars."

CLIOSOPHIC. A word compounded from _Clio_, the Muse who presided over history, and [Greek: sophos], intelligent. At Yale College, this word was formerly used to designate an oration on the arts and sciences, which was delivered annually at the examination in July.

Having finished his academic course, by the appointment of the President he delivered the _cliosophic_ oration in the College Hall.--_Holmes's Life of Ezra Stiles_, p. 13.

COACH. In the English universities, this term is variously applied, as will be seen by a reference to the annexed examples.

It is generally used to designate a private tutor.

Everything is (or used to be) called a "_coach_" at Oxford: a lecture-cla.s.s, or a club of men meeting to take wine, luncheon, or breakfast alternately, were severally called a "wine, luncheon, or breakfast _coach_"; so a private tutor was called a "private _coach_"; and one, like Hilton of Worcester, very famed for getting his men safe through, was termed "a Patent Safety."--_The Collegian's Guide_, p. 103.

It is to his private tutors, or "_coaches_," that he looks for instruction.--_Household Words_, Vol. II. p. 160.

He applies to Mr. Crammer. Mr. Crammer is a celebrated "_coach_"

for lazy and stupid men, and has a system of his own which has met with decided success.--_Ibid._, Vol. II. p. 162.

COACH. To prepare a student to pa.s.s an examination; to make use of the aid of a private tutor.

He is putting on all steam, and "_coaching_" violently for the Cla.s.sical Tripos.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed.

2d. p. 10.

It is not every man who can get a Travis to _coach_ him.--_Ibid._, p. 69.

COACHING. A cant term, in the British universities, for preparing a student, by the a.s.sistance of a private tutor, to pa.s.s an examination.

Whether a man shall throw away every opportunity which a university is so eminently calculated to afford, and come away with a mere testamur gained rather by the trickery of private _coaching_ (tutoring) than by mental improvement, depends, &c.--_The Collegian's Guide_, p. 15.

COAX. This word was formerly used at Yale College in the same sense as the word _fish_ at Harvard, viz. to seek or gain the favor of a teacher by flattery. One of the Proverbs of Solomon was often changed by the students to read as follows: "Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth b.u.t.ter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood; so the _coaxing_ of tutors bringeth forth parts."--_Prov._ x.x.x. 33.