Kansas University Weekly.
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the only way in which we may all be there is for each individual to be there as a unit, with reference not more to what he is to get by his attendance than to what he is to contribute by it.
A general resolution of this sort, partly selfish and partly unselfish, will instantly bring about a revolution in what has hitherto been the condition of affairs, and simple attendance at chapel service if it be full and representative, will insure a pleasure and profit such as it has rarely possessed, and will so inspire those who have charge as well as those who attend as to bring about the desired interestingness and value as a result, instead of requiring it as a cause.
Further, it will cause all the questions that at present so vex those who have charge of chapel arrangements to become insignificant and disappear. It will not matter that the individual must sometimes be absent, if only his general rule is to be there. It will not matter if certain students and instructors have no classes until ten o'clock or later, and must therefore be much inconvenienced by attending chapel; if that is the case this term, it may not be the case next term. It will not matter whether one prefers to sit next the platform or back under the gallery, for the room will be filled in any case, and it will no longer be necessary to reiterate requests or stretch ropes to keep the audience within reach of the speaker's voice. It will not matter if those who are in other buildings at the chapel hour sometimes find it impossible to get across to the main building in time; at other times it will be easy for them to do so.
The question then resolves itself in its simplest aspect into this: Why should not every student and every instructor who is in the main building at 8:50 A.M., and the greater number of those who have their first recitation at 9:10, with a large proportion of those who are in adjoining buildings at those hours, be present at chapel service? Is there any answer which any one would not be ashamed to make?
If there is not, then why not attend chapel, to meet one another, to become acquainted with those instructors whose work lies apart from ours, to show respect to the University by attending the one class that is established for the entire University, to develop in ourselves the truest and best University spirit.
Don't say you are not a church member or you are not religious; the chapel service is as broad in its scope as the University itself, and you did not hesitate to enter the University. Don't say the service is not attractive, or that you do not get anything from it; the responsibility for that belongs to you as much as to anyone. Don't say that the service is too long; there is trouble of that sort now and then, but it will be remedied. Don't say that your class was not dismissed on time; it will not often occur. Don't say that you object to being asked to take a front seat; if we are all there most of us will have to take back seats whether or no. Don't be afraid to come in because you may be a a little late, especially if the responsive exercises are not ended. Don't sit in the class room to look over the lesson of the next hour; you already have it or it is probably too late. And above all, in the name of common sense, common respect for devotional exercises, and common good taste, do not gather in the halls in groups large or small, or sit on the stairs, or perch in the windows, and discuss matters political or social or personal till doors must be closed to shut out the sound of your voices. It is not too much to say that this one test of showing respect to the chapel service, whether within the doors or without, will serve to distinguish infallibly the true gentleman or lady from the imitation article.
How many students and instructors in the University of Kansas will for a year, a term, or even a month, endeavor to aid in carrying out these suggestions that the effect may be noted, and the results estimated?