Graduates of the Academy have often expressed their opinion that the transition from a cadet to an officer is too abrupt, and have regretted that before graduation a cadet did not acquire more the viewpoint of an officer. It is not possible for a cadet to gain, simply through official contact with an officer, ideas regarding the service and little points concerning the command of enlisted men. Instruction in these matters is provided, but it must be remembered that time is limited, and that all recitations, lectures, talks, are in general marked by formality and a certain degree of restraint. In order to make a distinction between the First Class and the under classes, the authorities have established a social organization called the “First Classmen’s Club.” Its object is to segregate the First Class from the remainder of the Corps, entrust to it greater powers of command over the other cadets, and to put into its hands more fully the discipline of the rest of the Corps. In other words, its object is to inculcate in its members a greater feeling of responsibility by giving them greater powers accompanied by greater privileges. The privileges that are accorded thereby make them feel that they have passed the schoolboy period, and prepare them to accept properly the greater privileges of an officer. Although it is called the “First Classmen’s Club,” it is in no sense a club as known in civilian life. Nothing to drink, or to eat, is permitted, nor are there pool or billiard tables. The Club has a spacious hall over the north sally-port of the new barracks; it is supplied with papers, magazines, a phonograph, a piano, and games such as dominoes and chess, and comfortable lounging chairs. This meager equipment may appear ludicrous to the college man who is accustomed to the comforts and luxuries of his fraternities, but to the West Pointer who knows nothing but Spartan simplicity for the past three years, it means a great deal. The First Classmen have the privilege of using the Club at all times during the day, during call to quarters as well as during release from quarters, but men who are deficient in their studies are denied its use during study periods. The affairs of the Club are regulated by a Board of Governors, of which the first captain is a member ex-officio. With the exception of the First Classmen’s Club the authorities do not permit any social organizations such as fraternities among the cadets. In the first place, such bodies are in conflict with the principles of democracy upon which the institution was founded and which still characterizes every act of its administration; and in the second place, the cadet’s time is otherwise employed to a greater extent than that of any other university student in the country. West Pointers have no time for much else but to study their profession and develop their bodies. The relaxations provided for their spare moments are simple, healthful, and democratic.