STATE COLLEGIAN Published on Thursday of each week during the college year in the interest of The Pennsylvania State College. Entered at the Post Office, State College, Pa. as second class matter. EDITORS, T. F. FOLTZ, ’O6, Chief, W. J. DUMM, ’O6, F. K. BREWSTER, 'O7. F. B. GARRAHAN, ’O7 H. D. MASON, ’O7 R. B. MECKLEY, ’OB S. S. RIDDLE, ’OB BUSINESS MANAGER. H. P. DAWSON, ’O7 CIRCULATION MANAGER W. A. SLATER, ’O7 ADVERTISING MANAGER, W. N. LE PAGE, 'OB, SUBSCRIPTION, $1.50 per year or $1.25 if paid within 30 days after date of subscription. Thursday, JUNE 1, 1905 EDITORIAL Although the local faculty com mittee on athletics took up the A. L. Smith foot ball affair and made a clear statement in the Philadelphia papers in the fall of 1903, a certain writer in McClures' Magazine seems to be fully unaware of the true facts of the case. The following clip pings are of interest to the college students here and are worthy of reproduction. According to the magazine article, the statements of which are mostly false, State is placed is a very unfavorable light. Smith did not attend classes at Penn immediately after our game with that university. Also it is impos sible to see how he could have en tered U. of P. without his honorable dismissal from State which he did not receive until after the Annapolis game. Every game he played with State he did while a student here. The writer of the magazine article goes on as follows : THE STATE COLLEGIAN “Although a “star” athlete, he (Smith) was one of the “dirtiest” players on the gridiron. Smith is the man who goes to college with the one idea of engaging in athletics. Here is his record : As full-back of the eleven of the Pennsylvania State College, he played a “magnificent game” against the University of Pennsylvania, Ocober 4, 1902. The following Monday he was practicing with the University of Pennsylvania second eleven, and had signified his intention of migrating to the univer sity. In fact, he immediately began to attend classes, through an arrange ment with the dean of the Univer sity of Pennsylvania, although his formal letter of dismissal from Penn State was not voted by that institu tion until November 7th. The fol lowing fall, in 1903 (under the rule requiring one year’s residence he could not play for the University of Pennsylvania in the season of 1902,) he played for his new college —played against Harvard. Then it became known that,between October 4th and November 7th, 1902, when practis ing with the “scrub” and attending classes at the University of Pennsyl vania, he played three games (against Yale, Susquehanna, and Annapolis) for Penn State. Smith was thereupon (the season was nearly over) declared ineligible. The Philadelphia Public Ledger demanded that he “should forever be debarred from Pennsylvania athletics . . . and should be expelled from the university.” Smith claimed that he was “not in college’ ’ when he played for Penn State. He had not matriculated, but University of Pennsylvania pio fessors and instructors were ready to make affidavits that he was at tending classes regularly. Yet this man was permitted to represent Pennsylvania on the gridiron last fall (1904,) and to the victory over Harvard he contributed greatly. Afterwards, in the middle of his I senior year,he was dropped from col lege. His football days were over, and he was no longer a useful mem ber of the college community. Al though his means of livelihood were not known, he was regarded among Pennsylvania men as a student who was “helped on the side.” In answer to these charges Smith has the following to say: “While I admit being a hard, ag gressive player, I deny that I am dirty. My record will bear me out in this statement. I have never been disqualified while playing for Penn, nor has my team suffered in a loss of ground for any foul work of mine. “It is true that I tried to enter the University of Pennsylvania directly after the game with Penn, on Octo ber 4, 1902. When I found that I could not get my letter of dismis sal from State College, for about a month, I continued playing with State College and did not join Penn’s scrub. ‘ ‘This matter has all been threshed over by the newspapers many times, and it has always been shown that I was not to blame when I came to Penn on November 7, for I had the promise of the athletic authorities that I would be allowed to play. “The statement that certain Uni sity professsors and instructors are willing to take affidavit that I was at tending classes between the period of October 4 and November 7 is false. I defy any professor at Penn to say such a thing. “At the time I was disqualified by Penn and refused permission to finish out the the season,l was urged by many persons, some connected with the University, to make a state ment of my case in order to clear myself, but I refused, becaused I did not wish to injure Penn by mak ing public her position in the mat ter. “Furthermore I was not dropped from the University several months ago when ‘my football days were
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