ADDRESS by PRESIDENT WILLIAM MATHER LEWIS of Lafayette College on ATHLETICS AND NATIONAL DEFENSE before the Thirty-Fifth Convention of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the American Football Coaches Association in New York City December SOA 940 ATHLETICS AND NATIONAL DEFENSE Professor Owens, Mr. McMillin, Members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the American Football Coaches Association: I am very happy to be here this morn- ing to take some slight part in this discussion of Intercol- legiate Athletics in Relation to National Defense. As Professor Owens has indicated, I approach this subject from two standpoints: first, from the standpoint of the col- lege president; and, then, from the standpoint of a Director of Selective Service, being that in the state of Pennsylvania. I might say that this dual capacity is a little confusing to me at the present time. It is three days at the college and three days at Harrisburg, and I take the seventh day off to try to adjust myself to which position I am holding at that particular moment. I find that it is a little more difficult for me than for some of my friends to live a double life, although I think that sometimes we think our friends are living a double life when they are not doing so at all. I heard the other day of a man who met a friend on the street one after- noon and asked, “Who was that dame that I saw with you at the sidewalk café last night?” and his friend said, “That wasn’t a dame; that was my wife. That wasn’t a sidewalk café; that was my furniture!” And so there are times when we are misunderstood. But I do find it rather difficult to make this double approach. When I was appointed Director of Selective Service in Pennsylvania, one of the Philadelphia papers said sympa- thetically that I was taking up the most thankless job in the state. But they didn’t realize that that had been my profes- sion for many years—after all, a college president is trained to take a thankless job as part of life. I think there is a certain chain of hotels in which they say that the guest is always right; and, on the other hand, in the academic field, it is a matter of tradition that the col- lege president is always wrong. The college president is the one person among all the groups that make up a college or university that hasn’t this very delightful but somewhat nebulous attribute that is called ‘academic freedom.” He must be all things to all men. He must respect every confi- dence. He must listen to all sorts of woes every day. In fact, he must be the personification of Kipling’s little man “If” that is talked about so much at the football banquets in the fall. If the football season is a complete failure, it is the college president’s fault because he refused to fill the dormi- tories and the lecture rooms with non-paying customers. If the season is a tremendous and stupifying success, it is the president’s fault again because the shocked sports writers on all the papers say that this stepping over the amateur bounds could have been stopped by the president if he had wanted to; that the college administration, after all, has in its hands whether the sport shall be amateur or non- amateur. We thank the sports writers for the compliment and hereafter we will add another duty by joining the Fed- eral Bureau of Investigation and following the embattled alumni to their hide-outs. After all, believe it or not, there is one good point about the college president, and that is that he knows just what his position is, particularly in the athletic field and with a group of athletic people such as are here this morning. So, having made my point clear, as one who is always mis- taken, I am going to ask you to listen to a few suggestions which I have as to how to make football more successful in the national program than it is today. We have to have real direction at a time like this. We have to know which way we are going. Even the football coaches need direction. I notice that in your conference of yesterday you decided to have the goal posts widened. I think that is a mistake. I think that some of you need to have the goal posts nearer. That would have more effect upon your season’s success, perhaps. I notice also that you have decided to have a more liberal policy in connection with putting substitutes into the game. I quite disagree with you on that point. Every football con- tract should have in it a clause which says that both teams should have the same number of players on the bench at any given game. That would make better sport out of it, and, after all, you still have to think of the paying public that comes to your games. I don’t object to a football team in which I am interested being defeated every once in a while, but when I see it defeated by four different teams on the same Saturday afternoon, I think that is just too much! And so I don’t agree with you on that point of view. Now, as to the ethical situation. We hear so much of that at the end of the season, both from coaches and college presi- dents. May I suggest that this matter of non-ethical teams 2 can be very easily taken care of? In making your schedule, you don’t have to play the teams that you don’t think are as ethical as you are. I have noticed that the highly built-up teams have more and more difficulty getting good schedules and that they have to go to this part of the country and to that, and that they have no regular rivalries. I believe the traditional rivalry means as much for the ethics of football = does anything else. By their schedules, ye shall know em! In the second place, good football can be encouraged if you don’t have illusions of grandeur. Perhaps you will never go to the Rose Bowl, but sooner or later there are going to be as many bowls in the United States as there are in Macy’s basement! And in the meantime, you can live a normal athletic life. Again, I hope that none of you—and I am sure that none of you do today—urge great football players to come to col- lege who aren’t college material, who are not the type that can stand up in a first-class college, because that great fresh- man team that is taken out of the trenches the second semes- ter never does any college athletic department any good. In the fourth place, I hope that you and the college facul- ties are going to see to it that your institutions are repre- sented upon the gridiron and on the track and on the diamond by gentlemen and by students. Finally, I think that the whole question of athletic ethics is settled when the athletic department is an organic and an inherent part of the college, just as the department of chem- istry or biology or German, let us say, is. Now, that is all I have to say by way of the arraignment of college football, which you all expect from a college presi- dent at this time of year. So I have done my duty up to the present moment. What I came to you to talk about this morning is a far more serious matter, is a far more challenging matter, than this specific matter of rules for football or any other form of athletics. That is the development of a generation of young men in the United States who have the red blood, who have the stamina, who have the loyalty, to protect the American way of life at a moment when it needs to have it protected so greatly. There is no more effective group in the United States to do it today than you who have upon your shoulders this great athletic and this great moral and spiritual re- sponsibility. I don’t think, men, we realize quite the position we are in today. We have worked out all of these fine football sched- ‘ules for next fall. We have not one reason to be perfectly sure today that any of those games will be played because 3 a a of the cloud of war that hangs over this country. God help- ing us, we are not going to get into the war. . I pray that we may keep out of the war if we can keep out of it honorably, and I stress that term “honorably,” because not only have we to think of the loss of life of these boys of ours whom we are coaching today, not only have we to think of the tremendous piling up of debts that will never be paid—even by our grandchildren—but isn’t it true that there must, when this holocaust is over, be some great nation that has stood apart and that will have in its hands the rehabili- tation of a war-torn world? I think so; and I think that is the challenge to you and to me today—to think of athletics in broader terms than we ever have before, because America is the only great nation in which academic matters are mov- ing forward normally. Only three weeks ago they dropped bombs and tore apart the great old University at Athens. Four weeks ago they closed the two universities in Holland because there were Jewish professors in them who insisted upon teaching the truth. Last spring they entirely destroyed the library of the University of Louvain, and with it 750,000 volumes—many of them first editions without any dupli- cates in the world. Today there is no university education, as it should be, in Germany—that country from which the best scholars of the world have come. Those universities. are still open, but they are propaganda institutions. Truth and the teaching of truth have been eliminated from them. In Oxford and Cambridge there is little academic life. Cam- bridge is partially a military headquarters, and most of those boys are in the R.A.F. The Sorbonne in Paris is out of the picture. The great University in Poland has been destroyed. We sent no boys abroad as Rhodes Scholars this year. I am saying all this merely to suggest to you that on the American college and on the American university, on their departments—those of athletics more than a good many others, perhaps—there rests the responsibility of preserving civilization at a most trying time in the history of the world. That is what we are here for, as I take it, to consider how | to preserve certain values; how to strengthen the youth of America to meet the issue which is to come before them. I have said to you that we hope to God that we will not be in this war and in this present military conflict. But there isn’t a chance in the world that the boys in your gymna- siums, in your locker rooms, will not be called upon, when they graduate, to participate in a tremendous economic and social and political conflict forced upon us by the totalitarian powers. There is something that we can face and realize, and that 4 is that those who are to win in this contest must have a strong moral purpose, strong physical bodies, strong minds, and an approach to truth that is clean and fine and strong. Because, after all, men, if you trace back what is behind this great international upheaval of today you will find that in Europe and in America immorality has gone past the per- sonal stage; it has gone to the place where nations are im- moral, where lies are part of the force which is used by cer- tain totalitarian powers. France didn’t fall because of strength without. France fell: because of weakness within, because of something inside that was working havoc, a propaganda of lies. Belgium was the victim of propaganda. I come to you to suggest that in the athletic departments of this country there lies a responsibility for building up a love for truth, of clean manhood. There can be no No Man’s Land between truth and falsehood. You can teach, better than any other group of men in any college, what truth means. That is my objection to a concealed program of sub- sidizing in any college. It isn’t the fact that one college is built up and beats another; it is the fact that the system of subsidizing influences the boys, particularly the boys who are subsidized and are told to tell nothing about it, and, more than that, the college body as a whole. I think the time has come when we must realize that absolute honesty, cost what it will, is going to preserve civilization more than anything else; that nations are but groups of individuals, and that if people as a whole laugh at truth, if we take short-cuts, if we sneer at moral principles, sooner or later we are going down as other nations have gone down. In the second place, gentlemen, we need as never before in the history of the world men who are unselfish ; men who are kindly; men who are thoughtful. I am sure that you have that sort of men on your athletic teams, because let me say this to you, that I have observed over a long period of many, many years in education, the boys who are in team athletics, who are strong physically, are the most loyal, are the most appreciative boys in the average American insti- tution. I would take them any time as over against those boys who spend their leisure time in smoke-filled rooms— those pseudo-intelligentsia discussing what is wrong with the American way. If they only knew—what is wrong is with their digestions and not with the American way! I would rather have the type of boy who spends his spare time on the athletic field. And now my critics will say, “Oh, you’re in favor of healthy morons.” No; I am in favor of healthy, normal, loyal human beings. No; I am in favor of physical strength 5 rather than emotional instability, and I am in favor of the old athletes of Oxford and Cambridge up in the air today in the R.A.F., as against those moles under the ground in Eng- land that are trying to tear down the motherland. Now, to get down to more absolutely specific things. Both Mr. McMillin and Professor Owens have spoken of the broader athletic program. I will not be satisfied with what we are doing in the national defense side of this program until every boy in every institution is in some sort of organ- ized team play, and I mean by that not filling the intramural teams alone but getting more candidates for intercollegiate teams. I think there is only one way of doing that, and that is to eliminate the distinction between major and minor sports in the college program. Any boy who goes out for any team gives it the best he has, if he is a real sport, and for that reason it is a major sport to him. England has done away with class distinctions under the bombs and under the flares, and we ought to do away with class distinctions in athletics. We ought to see that the tribute is paid to any boy who makes his letter, no matter what the sport is, be- cause that will bring more boys out for our organized teams. In the second place, I think any director of athletics ought to have more pride in bringing one boy who is a victim of, let’s say, infantile paralysis back to strength than in direct- ing a dozen super-athletes. As has already been suggested, we need more men with strong physiques. As Director of Selective Service for Pennsylvania I am much concerned to observe the number of young men who are being turned back to deferred classification for physical reasons. I realize that a good many of them are turned back for minor faults—a few teeth lacking, or something of that kind, or because the regulations haven’t been brought up to date—but when you find out the amount of tuberculosis, the amount of social disease, the results of alcoholism and drug addiction, eye-strain, malnutrition and a dozen other things, you and I—who think that America is strong and virile— must pause and think what our part is to be in this thing. My answer, gentlemen, is that the college athletic organ- ization has to go off the campus tomorrow and serve the community. There are over 16,000,000 young men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-six who were registered last fall on the 16th of October. Out of those, if we don’t get in the war, at least 4,500,000 are going to be called to the colors, but they are going to be called in small incre- ments. We can cut down the number placed in the deferred classes, if every college and university in the United States, if every Y.M.C.A. and Y.M.H.A., if every Boy Scout organ- ization that have gymnasiums, throw open their doors to reg- 6 istrants and give them a fine program of physical training. The college should take the initiative in this, get these reg- istrants in and build up the hollow-chested fellows of whom I have seen so many. We should give them a social chance to have some fun out of it by playing games with the others; but most of all we should correct the weakness of America before it is too late, because it is a glaring weakness. How will you do that, you say. You may have seniors who are majoring in physical education. Put them at this task of training these outside groups, using the gymnasium when you are not using it in your regular program and the swim- ming pool and the fieldhouse and the other facilities. That is a great challenge. You say, “Oh, we are terribly busy in our athletic department.” Well, men, in a democratic form of government, national defense shouldn’t be merely the re- sponsibility and the privilege of the boys of the nation, those boys who haven’t a vote as to whether they should go to war or not. In a democracy everyone should make his sacrifice for national unity and national strength. There is your job and there is my job. Think of it! Nearly one thousand colleges in the United States whose gymnasia are not used all the time. Think of the tens of thousands of high schools, of the athletic plants of athletic clubs, and you have the answer to the question of physical fitness, if you have a devoted citizenry among the men who are the leaders of the athletics. I am here this morning to appeal to you to carry the col- lege athletic program off the campus into the community, not for Old Siwash, or whatever institution you are con- nected with, but for the United States of America at a time of great need. I watched from my office in Harrisburg what hap- pened on the 16th of October. Hitler was watching; Mus- solini was watching; Stalin was watching—and they hoped that day there would be draft riots as there were at the time of the Civil War; they hoped that there would be grumbling about it as there had been on other similar occasions. There wasn’t anything of that kind. A hundred and thirty million people gave the finest that they had—the youth of this coun- try—to aid America in her defense through the medium of registration. Unity was never more needed; unity was never more shown than on that day. But, men, today we have a much more serious problem than mere registration. You heard the President last night, and you know that war may be nearer than we think, although we still hope to avoid it. But whether that is true or not, we have an opportunity of training today the youth of America as we haven’t had the opportunity in the life of 7 - landlines this country. Let’s make something out of it. Let’s show that the athletic departments of the American colleges can justify themselves as training schools of fine citizenship. It is trite, of course, to say that the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of great private schools, of Eton, in England; but it isn’t trite to say that the athletic officers of the American colleges today have it in their hands to decide whether or not the young men of America will go forth prepared, either for warfare when the guns are boom- ing, or in the other warfare that we must face, economic and social and political. I remember, some years ago when I lived in Washington, I was asked by the Boy Scouts to give a George Washington Birthday address at the Tomb of the First Great American, during their annual pilgrimage to Mount Vernon. I drove down with General LeJeun, whom some of you knew. We got there before the Boy Scouts did, because of the fact that they came down by excursion steamer. As we stood there by the Tomb, a little group from the American Citizen- ship School of Washington came up—about thirty of them from eighteen or nineteen to twenty-three years of age. A boy stepped forward with a poor little wreath and laying it against the grated door of the tomb in broken English, with tears rolling down his cheeks he said, “George Washington, you are dead. You cannot speak to us. But you can speak to God. Speak to God, George Washington, and ask Him to make us good citizens of the country which has done so much for us.” I thought then, and I have thought many times since, that if we could teach the college boys of America to utter that prayer from their hearts, not from their lips, America would be safer than she is today. You have that power. I have that power. There is no sep- aration between the athletic departments and the other de- partments in our colleges today, in their opportunity and their responsibility for that service which may save civili- zation. PHYSICAL FITNESS AND NATIONAL DEFENSE Resolution adopted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at its Annual Convention, Hotel New Yorker, New York City, December 30 - 31, 1940. Supporting the action taken during the course of the past year by its Executive Committee in urging its member col- leges and universities to expand and intensify their pro- grams of intercollegiate athletics, intramural athletics and physical training for their student bodies as a contribution to the cause of national defense, the National Collegiate Ath- letic Association now meeting in session at its thirty-fifth Annual Convention gives its full affirmation to such pro- grams, and in addition makes these recommendations to its member institutions: 1. That to the full extent of their resources they expand their researches in the fields of public health, physical training and allied problems and their programs for ine training of teachers and leaders in these same fields ; 2. That they make available their facilities and their trained personnel to the youth of the local communi- ties and the surrounding regions, and that they cooper- ate fully with such non-college organizations as the American Legion, the Athletic Institute, and all other well-established service clubs and societies to promote sports, physical training and health programs through- out their communities and the nation at large. 3. That to all branches of the armed services of the gov- ernment they stand ready to codéperate, through their facilities and staffs, in extending every possible aid at their disposal in support of programs making for physical fitness and high morale. “ie Seen ths roy 2 aera cath ee Be cag pret thew is ees pee Jeruary 22, 1945. Mr. Ted North, 8235 Fountain Ave., Casa Del Oriente, Hollywood, California. Dear Ted: I was pleased indeed to have your letter of the 14th instant and it is a pleasure to write a recomeniation for you for officer training at the Coast Guard Academy. We follow you pretty closely in the films and at every opportunity we see you. Congratulations on your climb. You are Going a fine job of it. We are just leaving with the team for a basketball game at Camp Crowder, Missouri, so you will pardon the brevity of this - letter. I would enjoy writing you at some length if my schedule did not call me elsewhere. With all good wishes for your continued success, I an Praternally yours, Direstor of Physical Education, FCA: AH Varsity Basketball Coach. Enc. : : January 22, 1945. ad fo Whom It May Conoern: I om very happy to commend to your consideration Mr. oor a ep tears Si @ graduate of the University of Kansas... Ted North, as we knew him on the campus here, is @ young man of very strong character, personality, and has i He has a splendid character and a fine bearing and appeare | ENCVe , I would recommend him without reservation. Direotor of Physical Education, POA:AH Varsity Basketball Coach. pa ti Ac Wet qm January 14th, 1943 Dre Fe Ce Allen University of Kansas Athletic Dept. Lawrence, Kansas Dear Doc: Needless to say;I am one of the many who were quite pleased with the way your ball club has snapped out of it after a rather hectic session at the beginning of the yeare It seems as though our Psi brothers have been a problem here of late, but speaking strictly as an outsider it would appear from the sur= face that things have been patched up -= at least the scores indicate thate . I guess I am just a hometown boy at heart but I still follow with great enthusiasm the basketball team at the State "U". Sorry I wasn't there the other night for the Missouri game -= last time I saw them play was when I went with you on the bus to Columbia in the spring of '39 and they gathered fifty some points, but I don't know why I should remind you of those unpleasant thingse I am on my third year of contract at 20th Century-Foxe At the end of my second year they gave me a one hundred dollar a week raise, but the war has put an end to all young men working in pictures except a few who have families. I am getting ready to go in the service like everyone else. I am submitting an application for Officers' Training at the Coast Guard Academye It requires three letters of recommendation and I thought perhaps one from you, who,I hope,remembers a little some= thing about me at school,would be greatly appreciated. Coming from you I know it would carry a great deal of weight. As I look back,I was in a lot of activities, but the only rabble- rousing I ever did was to start a fire under (our old friend) Ad Lindsay. Will you ever forget the time that Friend called you and wanted the Phi Psi's to cease heckling his son-in-law? Be sure and remember me to Mrs. Allen and the family, and Bob and Mite * ¥* ¥* 8235 FOUNTAIN AVE. CASA DEL ORIENTE HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. —— Wane ell l= Eee A f Fi, meet | m= GI If you have a few minutes to write the letter,send it to my home address and I will be ever gratefule Incidentally,I am enlisted under the name of Edward Ernest Steinel North and reference should be made to me that way to the Commandant of the Ue Se. Coast Guarde With kindest personal regards, and wishing you every success in the new year, I remain Fraternally, Ted North * * * 6235 FOUNTAIN AVE. CASA DEL ORIENTE HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. loys KM. C. Veber. ZL of -_ ) ae Onn, at, Ys alter ae Fe oe : fe te RNa faet hate (Fl Amt ¥ an bing ecpeg. he ee Be Ma" b eae ees VULCA. Sackrthal, OA, PERMANENT ADDRESS: 1073342 L.A.C. Nelson, L., 1, Oswald Road, | Chorlton-cum-Hardy, c/o Mrs.J.Yates, MANCHESTER, 21. Hall Meadow, TEAN,STAFFS., ENGLAND. May 18, 1942 Dear Dr.Allen, : I was surprised and delighted to receive rad letter of March 25, which arrived safely a week ago oday. ; It was very good of Mr.Robert A.Cook to have referred me to you, and I appreciate immensely your generosity in sending under separate cover a copy of your formidable book, "Better Basketball.” At the time of wri- ting this hasn't reached me, doubtless due to the exigen- cies of the war. I would point out, however, that I already have a copy of "Better Basketball," a text which I value beyond words. And I asked Mr.Cook if he could possibly let me have a copy of your other work, "My Basketball Bible." If you could forward me a copy of this book, with its in- triguing title - as I am a devoted disciple of basketball - I would be exceedingly grateful. | Thé copy of "Better Basketball" which you have been good enough to despatch won't be wasted, Dr.Allen. I'll put it to good use: shall probably award it as a prize for the most promising player after the war. Meanwhile there is a bigger prize sought by us all - Hitler. You may be surprised to know that I wrote to you as long ago as November 10, 1939 - but received no reply. I enclose a copy of my letter, from which you will see that I have been striving for "My Basketball Bible" for a long time. May I repeat my request for any material concerning the hoop game ? I should like to have as many photographs as you can spare (their publicity value would be great), up-to-date information regarding rules, tactics, players, etc. wae - Since my last letter to you Dr.Naismith, the founder of basketball and a former colleague of yours, has passed away. I wrote a tribute to him in the "Manchester City News"as soon as I learned of his death from an obituary notice in the "Christian Science Monitor." If you could send me any further biographical details, Dr.Allen, I would be much obliged. “a As I stated in my last letter basketball has not yet been adopted here on a national basis - not in a big way. We have an Amateur Basketball Association, with headquarters at Birmingham, and the secretary, Mr.J.A.Clay, is as keen as I - but not keener ! He still keeps the flag flying in the Midlands, though I'm sorry to say many gymnasia have been badly blitzed and I believe he has the use of only one now. In London the Central Y.M.C.A. received a direct hit, but as the gymnasium is in the basement it escaped damage. The gym is used as a dormitory for the Forces, however, and I guess basketball has been forsaken for the duration. In Manchester the game flourishes so far as it can with a depleted membership. It is really a wonder that basketball is still played at all during the war. Unfortunately, I myself get no opportunity to play, but I always enjoy a work-out -often alone - when I go home on leave. I have ambitious ideas to foster the sport after the war. Perhaps I shall be able to persuade my employers, the "Daily Herald," to sponsor a campaign to encourage the development of basketball. As a journalist I have a ready-made chance to further the cause of the game. Up to this time the Press has ignored basketball because it isn't "box-office." Well, Dr.Allen, I won't impose myself upon you any longer. I'm afraid I can barely restrain myself when I dwell on my favourite pastime, and you must excuse my exuber- ance. Thank you again for your kindness in sending me a copy of "Better Basketball" (I'll acknowledge it on receipt) and I hope you will be able to let me have lots of material about the game as soon as you can. I look forward eagerly to your next communication. Please remember me to Mr.Cook and thank him for his co-operation - and the splendid basketball I received from him on Christmas Day. With kindest regards and best wishes - and a toast to Victory for the United Nations, I remain, Sincerely yours, LAURENCE NELSON. 1, Oswald Road, Chori ton-cum-Hardy, MANCHESTER, 21, eer Se. 90 Dear “reAlien, as * - heave hea the pleasure of reviewing your BETTER BASTETSALL for the “Manchester City News (May 29,1939}, having obtained a eopy from the London office of the MoGraw-Hiil Babkignins Cd 4: ta. 4 Later Ze asheé Mesera.MeGraw-Hili for @ copy of your EY BASRETBALL BIBLE for review purposes but they told me they had never beast of. he hook ! ‘I wonder if I would be imposing on youlat I asked youto let me have a copy. f an particularly anxious to add this work to ay anal} itbrary | on baigkethall ~ the Tinest game in the “sorla ! iI shall review it, of course. Perhaps you may hel: me in other res- pects, too. Could you favour me with photographa of yourself and DPr.Janes Naismith, whe, I am ven to understand, is still a member of the faculty of Kansas Univergity< Any biographical date about both of you would Bsa be welc med. | If you have written any other books on the hoo> game I shovld appreciate details. Bagketball has not yet been adosted in Britain in a big way. The public sti?1 confuses the sport with the girls’ game, netball : The war has dealt basketball a hasty blow, for all the Mormon missionaries, who were the backbone of Ensiish basketball, have returned to the States. But our National —— is to “ I believe the sport has a big future in this country, although it has bean played here for more than 29 years already ! I, myself, have played since 1°°7, and have taken Jart in tournaments on the Continent, where the gane has certainly taken on well. My ambition is to see basketball played by Britons like cricket and football. The Amateur Bagiet Ball Assoulation is doing goed #ork in tais direction. Another fond hope Of whne is to Oe able to wateh a first-clase mateh in America. Well, Mr.Alien, I hove you ¥111 receive this letter safely and that i haven't bored you. Looxing forward to your reply, I am, Cordially youre, Forrest C.Allen, Esc., University of Kansas, Kansas City, xaneas, G23 2A * December 21, 1942. e the an writing this just before leaving for New York. is not going well at all. A few family affairs among the team members - not the most compatible thing in the world, but we will go through with it. Since this is a war year we are expected to take everything in stride. | With best wishes, I am Sincerely yours, Director of Physical Education, FCA:AH Varsity Basketball Ceach. November 18, 1942. Mr. A. Qo Schimmel, a Director, Hotel Cornhusker, Lincoln, Nebraska. Dear Mr. Schimmel: Before your letter of the 16th arrived, Dr. Allen and his party had made arrangements to stay at the Hotel Lincoln during the time of the Physical Fitness Institute. However, he wishes to express his appreciation of your courtesy in reply- ing “to his inquiry. Sincerely yours, Secretary to Dr. F. © Allen. HOTEL CORNHUSKER LINCOLN -NEBRAS KA ESE COW PI Owe Eee Cie SS: SCHIMMEL DIRECTION November the Sixteenth 19 42 Forrest C.Allen, Director of physical Fducetion, Varsity Basketball Coach, ; University of Kansas Lawrence,Kansas Grectings,Mr.Allen: eeveel appreciate your letter of November 14, and we shall be hsppy to welcome your perty of six from your Department of Physical Educa- tion, attending the Regional Treining Institute for Physicel Fitness, to The Cornhusker. The three ladies,Miss Ruth Hoover,Miss Joie Staple- ton, and Miss Jean Bliss, may all be assigned to one room at the rate of $2 per person per day. The room will be equipped with one double bed and one single day bed, and will have private beth. The same arrangement may be made for you three men —- Mr.Henry Shenk,Mr. R. Strait, and you. eeceetwe shell look forward to receiving your “gefinite instructions to have eccommodations available when you arrive Notembey 19 and through the 2lst. Assuring you o éry courtesy at : a The Cornhusker, I-am Menaging Director Hotel cornhusker A. QeSchimmel pet IN SAINT LOUIS, MISSOURI IN GALESBURG, ILLINOIS IN OMAHA, NEBRASKA HOTEL KINGS- WAY HOTEL CUSTER: HOTEL BLACKSTONE November 14, 1942. Miss Mabel Lee, Department of Physical Education, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska. Dear Mise Lee: We have six people from our Department of Physical Education who will be in attendance at the Regional Training Institute on Physical Pitness Programs at the University of Nebraska on November 19, 20, amd 21. Doubtless some of these individuals may have written you appraising you of the fact that we expect to be there. This note is merely to confirm the fact that the following persons will attend: Miss Ruth Hoover, Miss Joie Stapleton, Miss Jean Bliss, Mr. Henry Shenk, it. R. R. Strait, eng myself. Apprecieting your hospitality, I em ‘Very cordially yours, Director of Physical Bducation, FOA:AM Varsity Basketball Coach. November 14, 1942. Mr. A. Q. Schimmel, Manager, Cornhusker Hotel, Lincoln, Nebraska. Dear Mr. Schimmel: We have six people from our Department of Physical Education who will be in attendance at the Regional Training Institute on Physical Fitness Programs to be held at the Univer- sity of Nebraska on November 19, 22, 21. Miss Ruth Hoover, head of the wmen's department, Miss Joie Stapleton, supervisor of practice teachers, Miss Jean _ Bliss, dance instructor, Mr. Henry Shenk, supervisor of prac- tice teachers, Mr. R. Strait, swimming instructor, and myself will desire accommodations. I am wondering if you will give our people ths same rate that you give our football and basketball teams when they _stey with yous. Please quote us rates for three in a suite, rooms with bath, or single and double rooms. I imagine it would be more patriotic to double up, would it not, if you are crowded? I will appreciate your prompt response. Very sincerely yours, Direstor of Physical Education, FCA:AH Varsity Basketball Coach. November 14, 1942. Manager, Hotel Lincoln, Lincoln Nebraska. Dear Sir: Since your manager has gone to war and your assistant manager also, I do not know to whom to write. I cannot recall the name of the married lady with a family who is on the switchboard in the evening. She has been there for fifteen years or more. My purpose in mentioning her is to identify myself. I have been coach at the Univer- sity of Kansas for 25 years end we have alwayé stopped at the Hotel Lincoln. We will have six people from our Department of Physical Education who will be in attendance at the Regional Training Institute on Physical Fitness Programs to be held et the University of Nebraska on November 19, 20, 21. Miss Ruth Hoover, head of the women's department, Miss Joie Stapleton, supervisor of practice teachers, Miss Jean Bliss, dance teacher, Mr. Henry Shenk, supervisor of practice teachers, Mr. R. R. Strait, swimaing instructor, and myself will desire aecommod- ations. I am wondering if you would give our peopl: in this department the same rates that you give to our basketball and footbell teams when they stay with you. Please quote uw rates for three in a suite, rooms with bath, or single. and double rooms. I imgine it would be more patriotic to double up, would it not, if you are crowded? I will appreciate your prompt response. Very sincerely yours, Director of Physical Education, FCA:AH Varsity Basketball Coach. ¢y October 2, 1942. Major John L. Griffith, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Hotel Sherman, Chicage, Illinois. Dear Mejor Griffith: I am enclosing a oopy of the letter I have just written te President Badger comerning our physical cendition- ing program here at the University of Kenesas in connection with the war effort. I thought you might be interested in what we are doing. Sincerely yours, Director of Physical Education, FCA:AH Varsity Basketball Ceach. Csteber 2, 1942. New York City, N.Y» Tear President Badger: — I an tapyy to have your letter of Septenber 21 ) seul eentior or an euandiaan, Wikek saucer ae mon ig for every semester the men remain in the University. the women the siren is ome year. Over six unexcused absences shall constitute a withdrawal the University to the petitions for exemption. \ Very sinverely yours, Dineoter of Ftysieel Biueation, Varsity Basketball Coache POA. AH Ence The National Collegiate Athletic Association PRESIDENT HONORARY PRESIDENTS SECRETARY-TREASURER PROFESSOR PHILIP O. BADGER PROFESSOR CHARLES W. KENNEDY JOHN L. GRIFFITH NEW YORK UNIVERSITY HOTEL SHERMAN, CHICAGO, ILL. WASHINGTON SQUARE MAJOR JOHN L. GRIFFITH HONORARY SECRETARY-TREASURER NEW YORK CITY, N. Y. : PROFESSOR W. B. OWENS PROFESSOR FRANK W. NICOLSON VICE-PRESIDENTS MEMBERS AT LARGE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Drrector Joun M. Harmon, Boston University, First District Dean L. K. Newiincer, Dartmouth College THE PRESIDENT AND SECRETARY Proressor DupLEY DEGRooT, University of Rochester, Second District Director W. J. Brncuam, Harvard University ; ProFEssor W. B. OWENS Dean A. W. Hosss, University of North Carolina, Third District Dr. Harry A. Scott, Rice Institute DrrectTor H. W. CLarK Prorressor GrorGE L. Riper, Miami University, Fourth District Proressor L. W. St. JoHn, Ohio State University PRESIDENT T., J. Davies Proressor H. H. Kine, Kansas State College, Fifth District CoLoneL Louis E. Hisss, United States Military DrrEcTor CLARENCE P, Houston Prorsssor J. S. McIntosu, Southern Methodist University, Academy Proressor K. E. Lr1s Sixth District Director NorTon PritcHETT, University of Virginia PRorEessor WiLBuR SMITH PROFESSOR WILLIAM HuME, II., University of New Mexico, Seventh District Proressor H. C. WiLLett, University of Southern DrrREcCTOR KENNETH FAIRMAN ProrEssor Joun W. Otmstep, U.C.L.A., Eighth District California September 21, 1942 Dr. Forrest ©. Allen University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas. Dear Sir:- The National Collegiate Athletic Association, at its annual convention in Detroit last December, passed resolutions urging its members to enlarge and intensify their physical training programs to insure the proper physical conditioning of their students for the pro- secution of the war, Many of the institutions comprising our member- ship already have effective programs in operation, and many more will initiate them with the opening of college this fall. The vital importance to the war effort of these physical hardening programs in the colleges cannot be overestimated. The exper- ience of all branches of the armed forces with the men coming into the service amply demonstrates the urgent need for full cooperation by the colleges in this regard, in preparing their students for the task of winning the war. The fact that most of the enlisted reserve programs established in the colleges specifically require that a definite amount of time be devoted to physical conditioning, indicates the importance attached to this matter by the armed forces. This is definitely empha- sized by Rear Admiral Randall Jacobs, Chief of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Navy Department and Chairman, Joint Army-Navy Personnel Board. In a letter addressed to college presidents, he states:- "It is the hope of the Navy Department that the students of all universities and colleges throughout the country will realize fully the seriousness of the present war and the sacrifice and toil each must make in order to fashion a total victory from it. It is further hoped that the men of the universities will institute among themselves a regime of self-discipline and conditioning in order better to complete the immediate job at hand and prepare for the greater tasks to come, It is sincerely urged that the college officials and faculty members will support and participate in all such programs......"The rejection 4 figures for physical defects released by the Selective Service Commission are staggering. The armed forces are succeeding slowly with the actual training and mental and physical conditioning of their men. While this is being done, other young men of the nation should be taking time by the forelock so that the job will be less weighty for the armed forces when they join the ranks." Bulletin Number 32 of the American Council on Education contains @ report of a Special Committee of the War Manpower Commission, on "The Utilization of Colleges and Universities for the — of the War." It states: - "Any adequate plan designed to make effective use of colleges and universities, professional and technical schools, must be based upon the following considerations:-.........(6) "Throughout the preparation for war- time service provision should be made for securing the complete physical fitness of the students." The responsibility of the colleges and universities is obvious. It cannot be dodged. It must be met. The Executive Committee of The National Collegiate Athletic Asso- ciation, after careful study and consideration, being convinced of the vital importance and urgency of this matter, believes that in order to adequately fulfill this responsibility, every college and university should provide a physical training program which:- (1) Is compulsory for all students registered under the Selective Service Act, subject to adjustment for students with physical disabilities. (2) Requires at least three periods a week of not less than one hour each, preferably of an hour and a half each. Five periods a week, where possible, will increase the effectiveness of such programs. (3) Is designed to develop (a) Endurance; (b) Agility:-(Coordi- nation, timing, rhythm, etc.); (c) Courage:- (aggressiveness, the combative quality, self-confidence, etc.) It is recognized that conditions vary at different institutions so that no one set program will be suitable for all. But the basic re- quirements can be met by all, even by those institutions with limited facilities. College athletic directors are competent to work out the de- tails. Reports on the programs already developed by some of the colleges and universities have been published in the Athletic Journal. Various branches of the armed forces have developed detailed programs, regarding which, information may possibly be available later, The task before us is a big one; the difficulties are great for many institutions. But it is a vitally important task, which must be under- taken, and accomplished, to the very best of our ability if we are to meet our responsibilities in the war effort, To those of our members who have already inaugurated such programs we extend our sincere commendation; upon those who have not, we urge the imperative necessity of providing such programs at once. The Executive Committee By Philip 0. Badger, President John L. Griffith, Secretary-Treas.