In this country we have no schools as old as Eton; yet all good schools have their fine traditions. The true-hearted service of noble lives has gone into the making of them. Of all such schools it may be said that among their sons or daughters are those who have loved their _Alma Mater_ so well that being a credit to her they have counted among their chief aims in life. Only the student who is moved by such motives as these has the true school spirit. Such a student longs that his school shall be stamped with the stamp of true worthiness.
I suppose the most evident, certainly the most picturesque, exhibition of school spirit is to be seen in connection with athletics, and it reaches its climax in an inter-school game. The authorities of some schools say frankly that they permit such games, with their interruption of serious work and other disadvantages, chiefly because they tend to develop school spirit and school loyalty. Athletic contests are good, for they give training in self-subordination, self-control, alertness, and dogged perseverance. The individual loses himself in the good of the whole. This makes for character and good citizenship. We must not underestimate the value of the enthusiasm which comes from rallying against a common antagonist. When the rivalry is good-natured and every rule of fair play is observed, the effect is wholesome.
Yet it is not always the student who cheers most loudly for the team and who is most carried away by school spirit on public occasions who is at heart most loyal to the school. There is a greater loyalty even than that generous spirit which prompts one to rejoice in victory. It is the desire that one's school shall stand only for that which is right. It is the determination that it shall be respected, and still more, that it shall be worthy of respect.
Now, the first and most obvious thing about any school is that it is an educational institution, and as such it must stand or fall. If a school is an educational failure, what avails its success in some subordinate thing? No one can take pride in an easy-going school to which any one can gain admission, and in which any one can remain, regardless of attainment. Students are not likely to think of this aspect of the case when they neglect their studies. They think the matter wholly personal and believe that only they are the sufferers. It is not so. By slack, indifferent work you are lowering the standard of your school, and you are thus disloyal. By your act you say that you do not care to have your school respected. This shows a lack of a sense of indebtedness on your part to the corporate group of which you are a member. It means a failure to apply school spirit where it was most needed. It is easier to sing and cheer on some moving occasion, but which does your school need more at your hands?