Life, 1916-09-28 · page 17 of 41
Life — September 28, 1916 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top cartoon**: Depicts dinner guests reacting with visible discomfort upon learning one attendee is a psychiatrist (an "alienist"—the archaic term for mental health specialists). The satire mocks social anxiety about psychology and psychoanalysis, which was still novel and somewhat suspect in early 20th-century America. **Main article & bottom cartoon**: Satirizes college presidents as wasteful administrators. The piece celebrates Northwestern University's attempt to operate without a president, arguing college leaders meddle in public affairs while contributing little value. The "Super-University" cartoon mocks the progression of education—showing how a post-graduate student's final lesson is contempt for their parents, suggesting higher education produces arrogant, ungrateful graduates disconnected from practical values. The satire targets both institutional bloat and education's perceived failure to instill character or respect.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AS EVERYONE FEELS ON LEARNING THAT ONE OF THE FELLOW-GUESTS IS A DISTINGUISHED ALIENIST No More College Presidents? the end that every college president HE president of Northwestern University having resigned, the at- tempt is to be made to get along with- out a president in the future. No more hopeful sign of the new times than this has come to our attention, What good is a college president, anyway? Where is the college to-day that wouldn't be better off without its presi- dent? But the colleges haven't been the only ones to suffer from collegepresidenti- tis. College presidents, of late, have shown a painful tendency to Icave the campus and interfere with all kinds of public and private affairs. If this ten- dency should become much more cgre- gious there would be real cause for alarm. We are glad, therefore, to see this attempt to stanch the evil at its source. May the experiment succeed and become a powerful precedent, to shall be swept from the face of the land. “NAY dear madam, your daughter's education is now complete. In every subject you will find that she will treat you and your husband with profound contempt.” THE SUPER-UNIVERSITY SENIOR POST-GRADUATE