Dénes Dienes: History of the Reformed Church Collég in Sárospatak (Sárospatak, 2013)
SPIRIT AND MOOD - Animated Student Life
SECONDARY SCHOOL AND COLLEGE 178 ‘nrThe Transylvanian School’s Literary and Debating Society announced its establishment school year. Ever since one could remember, the custom was that, by the fourth of September, all students were to move into their accommodation, complete all their private matters and use the first week to review all they had learned the previous school year, so that the new school year could start the following week without any problems. In reality though, by the mid 1860s, more and more parents brought their children only a day or two before the actual new semester started thus delaying everything. Other school vacations were abused as well in a similar way. In better cases, the students stayed home longer to work, but, in worse cases, the parents only encouraged their children to be shiftless. There is no need to wonder that, unless things change, between ten and fifteen students will be required to repeat the entire year in every class - read the school’s notice which explained and forewarned of the potential consequence of the poor results. The school’s leadership had other issues with the parents as well. It was felt that the parents did not maintain proper contact with the school. Without consulting the teachers, they chose private teachers who were undemanding on the one hand and, on the other hand, authoritarian when selecting the subject matter of the lesson to teach. For these reasons, the school felt a need to establish closer contact with the parents. To this end, they initiated the report system by which every parent would receive a report assessing the performance of their child every half year. This was also what prompted the College to request the regional train service companies to supply discounted tickets to students when they travelled home. It is without doubt that the Patak student spirit was honed not only during classes, but also during the various voluntary association meetings. A wide variety of associations were established in this particular era. The Journal Reading Society was one such more prominent organization with its one thousand five hundred volumes in stock and its subscription to fifteen different newspapers. The College choir, which was able to mobilize the majority of students, had a long tradition of functioning. In 1866, for example, ninety choir members participated in rehearsals and performances. The Erdélyi Self-study Circle was founded in 1881. It had a membership of close to one hundred, was led by Pál Kun and had as its purpose the preserving János Erdélyi’s intellectual heritage. During the same year, the Shorthand Society with twelve members was established as well as a Student Music Association with ten members under the leadership of Géza Ballagi, professor of law. The Firefighter Group already counted sixty-two members and had assisted in combatting ten fires in the town. The leader of the College noted with great pride that, thanks to the locals and student firefighters in Sárospatak, there is one firefighter for every thirty-four citizens, while in the city of Hamburg, the ratio is one for every two hundred and two residents. A few years later, chess, sharp-shooting and gymnastics groups popped up within the College. However, by the end of the century, an increasing number of complaints were voiced about the flagging commitment of the students. The organizations, associations and societies were losing their members who were more interested in physical temptations and carousing. During this time, the smaller groupings (Shorthand, Lawyer, Firefighter Societies) ceased operations for years.
