Dénes Dienes: History of the Reformed Church Collég in Sárospatak (Sárospatak, 2013)
SPIRIT AND MOOD - Organized Student life
214 THE STRUGGLE AGAINST MARGINALIZATION Poet and translator Géza Képes (1909-1989) was a student in Sárospatak and then a teacher in his alma mater between 1930 and 1940 a real and intensive relationship with the wider population in neighboring villages. The College Choir played a particularly important role in the cultural life of the whole town and the surrounding areas and became more harmoniously integrated to other commitments of the institution. Accordingly, it played an important role in making Hungarian folksongs known and increasing their popularity. One of the performances of the choir in Kassa was broadcast by the radio. The Youth Association had a similarly wide-ranging effect, editing and publishing the periodical Sárospatak Youth Gazette. Several minor initiatives slowly disappeared over time, such as the Bocskay Fraternal Association and the John Calvin Circle, the latter vanishing within a few years despite having sought to play a particularly important role. Károly Janka, congregational lay officer, had initiated the establishment of the Circle in the hope that it would bring together the theology students with the denominationally Reformed students from the Teacher Training School which was under state control at the time. The Circle was to have served as a forum to help educate in a purposeful way the potential future leaders of the villages of the immediate region. Truth be told, these activities also raised certain problems. In 1928, the church and school leaders indicated it to be a recurring problem that not all the associations and their activities were in line with Christian teachings. Added to this was the difficulty that the College was not able to adequately control the students’ entertainment options in Sárospatak. The leaders encountered problems in particular with the repertoire of the local theater, plays with questionable moral standards often being shown. The leaders of the church district and the College tried to initiate new alternatives. They urged the establishment of a cinema whose screenings could be better supervised and could serve as a tool for aesthetic morals and film education. It was thought that physical education would be the best outlet for the excess energy of the students, so a sports hall and a boathouse were built, during the winter an ice rink was constructed and excursions were organized. The Turul, later Petőfi Sporting Circle organized many sporting activities (e.g. gymnastics, athletics, tennis, ball games, chess, fencing, skiing and skating). The sports club was not only important for the actual physical workout its activities provided, but it also helped the young men who would be future pastors or teachers to learn how to organize and manage sports for villagers. Having students join the movement called Soli Deo Gloria had a direct impact on public education in the region surrounding the school. The group organized Bible studies, ceremonies and concerts, was engaged in religious education and self-education and they often visited the surrounding villages. In part, they took care of local people’s educational needs, brought high-quality entertainment (folk tales were played out, folk songs were performed and public education lectures were held in the afternoons) and, in part, they learned much - in the spirit of the village research movement - about the Calvinist rural communities, customs and traditions. Among the countless possibilities available, it was the self-study circles which stood out. They met twice a month in general, organized festive meetings, concerts, carnival balls, etc. and, in general, were able to mobilize most of the students. In the Comenius Self-Study Circle at the Teachers Training School, almost a third of the students held positions within the Circle, so surely their
