s then the average debating
society, with its usual premium on mere forensic skill, or the
fraternity, with its encouragement of snobbishness. The wholesome
thing about the spirit of fraternity should be set to work upon some
such creative activities as we have mentioned. Not only does the
comradeship strengthen faith in right doing, but these practical
endeavors offer a notable help to the deepening, extending, and
clarifying of that interest in moral progress without which there can
be none of the intelligent leadership for which our democracy looks to
its colleges.

=Peculiar difficulty of applying usual test to courses in ethics=

To test how far the subject has been of value to the student is
unusually difficult. His interest in the discussions is by no means an
unfailing index. There are those who may be both eager and skilled in
the intellectual combat incidental to the course but whose lives
remain untouched for the better. The worthier outcome is hard to
trace. It is quite possible for the teacher to take credit for the
instilling of an ideal whose generation was due to some agency wholly
unknown, perhaps even to the student himself. On the other hand, the
best results may take years for overt appearance. In the nature of the
case, their more intimate expressions can never be recorded.

Moreover, students vary in the force of character which they bring
with them to the study. A lad whose home training has been deficient
may take more time than the best teacher can give in order to reach
the degree of excellence to which others among his classmates ascend
more quickly. Or a lad whom the course has moved with a desire to take
up some philanthropic endeavor may hesitate to pursue it through lack
of the necessary gift or failure in self-confidence. The forces which
enter into the making of character are so complex, including as they
do not only acquisitions of new moral standards, but temperamental
qualities, early training, potent example, physical stamina, dozens of
accidental circumstances, that it is unfair to use the tests
applicable, let us say, to a course in engineering.

Hence we must be beware of testing the value of the work by immediate
results. Something may be gathered by having the students write
confidentially what they think the course has done for them and where
it could be improved. This they can do both at the end of the course
and years later when time has brought perspective. But tests are