Life — June 23, 1927 — page 15: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon depicts Yale University students engaging in various rowdy, destructive behaviors—labeled variously as "Growl!," "Grit," "Harkness Kennels," and "Tact Clones." The scene shows students fighting, vandalizing property, breaking windows on buildings, and generally acting unruly. The satire mocks the institutional valorization of the "bulldog spirit"—Yale's mascot and the aggressive competitive ethos supposedly cultivated there. By literally depicting students as animals in kennels being trained toward brutishness, the cartoon critiques how elite universities supposedly develop not refined gentlemen but rather crude, violent hooligans under the guise of school spirit and tradition.