Word: reed
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Many students--like Lippmann--who had similarly undistinguished backgrounds went through four years only vaguely aware of the elaborate club system that had evolved to secure the most important social distinctions. Yet Reed was acutely aware of the entire machine, the process that channelled the young "punchees" through the Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770 into the various waiting clubs, and ultimately the final clubs...
...Reed could only take it as a slight against his background when a close friend of his refused, after first agreeing to join him as a roommate for the following year. John did his share of hurting as well, turning down a rooming offer from another freshman merely because of his heritage--he was a New Yorker, and Jewish. Other attempts to enter what he though was the mainstream of college life were wasted. After starring in Morristown football, Reed decided to give freshman crew a try. Even being the last man cut didn't deter his efforts to join...
...Reed's efforts to rise into these organizations might seem pathetic to any student putting a premium on time spent free at schoolwork: there John's priorities left no choice in the matter. He described three types of "Harvard men." The athlete he admired, but nevertheless regarded as something of a dullard. The serious scholars, he conceded benefited from both the discipline and depth of their training, but had none of the spirit that made life, and living it, an experience to be treasured. This spirit of enthusiasm and energy could only be appreciated by the "activities...
...find his niche at Harvard: publications. Although dropped--along with Lippmann--from the socially conscious Crimson, Reed, with much writing and publishing experience, found little difficulty gaining staff positions on the Harvard Monthly and The Lampoon. Both served as an outlet for quick imagination and facile wit. The writing was fun, but rarely serious. Too much was written seriously, without revision or even serious editing. Yet, largely for his contributions to these publications, Reed's name became a familiar one to the undergraduate community. Achieving the position of Ibis on the Lampoon, Jack could boast to his mother in Portland...
Even from his grammar school days, academics never challenged Reed. Exploiting the elective system's flexibility and confining his studies (when he found time for them) to literature, composition and ancient history, he avoided all natural sciences and social sciences--a seemingly odd twist for someone who, only a few years later, would find no other cause but politics worth the effort. This seeming apathy prompted his apparent decision not to join in Harvard's Socialist Club, a serious organization created for the discussion of both the theory and practice that would put control of popular institutions under the control...