The re-establishment of rowing at Princeton is no longer a doubtful experiment. With our crews winning intercollegiate laurels, with about seventy undergraduates out on Lake Carnegie each afternoon, and with the new boathouse presented by the Class of [18]87 nearing completion and supplementing Mr. Carnegie's splendid gift of the Lake, this healthful and interesting form of athletics has now won for itself a well recognized place. Unlike other leading sports, however, rowing cannot pay for itself, but, on the other hand, the policy of our rowing authorities requires a very modest expense in comparison with the large sums for the support of crews at other universities. Because we thoroughly believe in rowing on the basis on which it has been established at Princeton, The Weekly bespeaks a hearty response to the following statement from the Graduate Advisory Committee of the Rowing Association:
In October last, the Graduate Advisory Committee of the Princeton University Rowing Association sent a circular letter to the alumni stating what had been done in rowing at Princeton during the last year, what it was proposed to do in the future, and asked that the alumni become associate members of the Rowing Association, with dues of $5.00 a year.Rowing collects no gate money, and, with the exception of the sum allotted to it from the general athletic fund, has been largely supported to date by the contributions of a few alumni who have undertaken to enable Princeton to take a stand in this great sport, commensurate with its position in the other major sports.
The budget last year, including $1,500 for new equipment, the trip to Cambridge, the sending of the second crew to Philadelphia, the entertaining of the Cornell and Columbia crews, and the Yale freshmen at Princeton, during the regatta, was less than $3,900, as compared with nearly $16,000 at Yale, and something in excess of $17,000 at Harvard. With this small expenditure, eight eights were daily coached on the Lake, under the personal supervision of Dr. Spaeth and his able assistants, Mr. Scoon, Mr. Schellens of the Faculty and Mr. Roche 1911. Many alumni feel that through the employment of professional coaches and trainers to the extent that is now the custom, some of our college sports are but a shade removed from professionalism.
It is also the determination of the Committee and also of Dr. J. Duncan Spaeth, the Director of Rowing, that this sport at Princeton shall be conducted on an absolutely amateur basis, and that its expenses shall be kept down to a minimum. It will be our aim to enlist the interest of the undergraduates of the University in rowing for the pure sport and exercise derived therefrom, and to compete with other universities on an amateur and sportsmanlike basis.
The results of last season were not only satisfactory, but really remarkable, considering the short time that Princeton has engaged in the sport. What Princeton has done in rowing, and the basis on which it is now organized, is causing the most favorable comment among the friends of the sport, among our own alumni and those of other universities, so much so, that graduates of other institutions have, in several instances, expressed to members of this committee the wish that their university, in a reasonable time, could adopt similar methods.
With the completion in the very near future of the boat house, which the Class of [18]87 is presenting to the University, the opportunities for the development of rowing will be greatly enlarged, and without doubt the interest in the sport will be doubled or trebled.
This Committee believed that the letter of October would bring a ready response from the loyal alumni; but as it was issued at the time when most of them were occupied with the Presidential campaign, in very many instances it was thrown aside, or lost, or escaped the attention of those to whom it was sent. We, therefore, beg leave to again call your attention to this matter, and earnestly request that you become a member of the Rowing Association, and thereby help furnish the only means at the present time whereby this splendid sport may be established on a firm and sure foundation.
At a meeting of this Committee, held in Princeton on March the 8th, the following schedule was approved:
May 6th, Philadelphia High School, Harvard Freshmen and Princeton Freshmen, at Princeton.
May 10th, Harvard, Pennsylvania and Princeton at Cambridge.
May 17th, Annapolis, Columbia and Princeton, at Princeton.
Commencement week, Novice and Class Races.
Signed,
Wm. Allen Butler [18]76
Arthur L. Wheeler [18]96
Chas. S. Bryan [18]87, Chairman
220 Fifth Avenue, New York City,
Graduate Advisory Committee
[Back to Page 7: 1913 Season...]
Related Articles: [Butler Papers] [PAW: 04/30/1913] [PAW: 05/14/1913] [PAW: 05/28/1913]
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