ring them into an active and aggressive
existence.

It is only natural that, with this increasing participation of the
alumni in university affairs, there should be an effort to provide some
means for the effectual expression of their collective opinion. Perhaps
the earliest and most striking example of this movement was the
provision in 1865 for the election of Harvard's Board of Overseers "by
such persons as have received the degree of B.A. or M.A., or any
honorary degree," from Harvard College. This effort, which came only
after a long struggle, was duplicated in Princeton, Dartmouth, later
Cornell, and many other institutions. Even some of the state
universities, whose regents are either elected by the people, as at
Michigan, or appointed by the governor, as in other states, have made
provision for direct alumni representation on their governing boards.
Though this is not true at Michigan it is significant that of the eight
members of the Board of Regents, six, Walter H. Sawyer, '84_h_,
Hillsdale; Victor M. Gore, '82_l_, Benton Harbor; Junius E. Beal, '82,
Ann Arbor; Frank B. Leland, '82, '84_l_, Detroit; William L. Clements,
'82, Bay City, and James O. Murfin, '95, 96_l_, Detroit, hold degrees
from the University and this proportion has held true for many years.
The other two members of the present Board are Benjamin S. Hanchett,
Grand Rapids, and L.L. Hubbard, Harvard, '72, Houghton. Shirley W.
Smith, '97, also is Secretary of the University.

Lacking the stimulus of direct representation in the governing body, the
alumni of the state universities have directed their efforts toward
strengthening the general alumni organization as the best available
means of expressing the sentiment of an increasingly important portion
of the university body. To further this desire alumni councils and other
bodies with advisory powers have been established, though usually their
status has been uncertain and their powers negligible, except as they
voice a body of opinion which the university cannot afford to overlook.
Thus the Michigan Alumni Advisory Council, established some years ago,
composed of representatives from the local alumni bodies, has been for
various reasons far from an effective body, though it contains the germ
of a force which may become active whenever a proper occasion may arise.
More competent, because less unwieldy, is the Executive Committee
composed of five members of the Council and two chosen at large. Thi