STUDENT COLONY

Hokitika Guardian, 5 September 1931, Page 3

STUDENT COLONY

ACTIVITY IN PARIS.

MR G S. TROUP RETURNS.

Returning to New Zealand after having been nearly a year and a hall secretary -to the International Students’ C.ub at Paris. Mr G. S. Troup, son of Mr G. A Troup of Wellington, had some interesting light ;to is bed on foreign student life in the Fiench \ capital. The club -which Mr Troup directed was inaugurated at the beginning of the last university year by the French branch of -the Student Christian Federation. It soon attracted m mbers of various nationalities, and has since met with plenty 1 of success. Mr Troup, who was compelled recently to resign his position on account of the Fiench Governnu.i t' action in prohibiting foreigners frpm hold ing salaried positions in Franca, was accompanied on his return yesterday by his wife.

“We a:;o .d.’lighted to be bac ” Mr Troup said. . “New Zealand wa s our real destination- on all our travels—we just called in at North America and Europe en route —and now that we are back again we hope to sec the Dominion with new eyes against a background of European and American life.lit lias certainly been a wonderful experience to visit the princip 1 cities and colleges of the United States and Canada and then to settle down in Baris, where the cream of the universities of every- country in the world came’ and visited us. During our stay there we got to know France and French life pretty thoroughly,, as all our work, was done in French controlled by a French committee and paid for mainly by French money. ALL NATIONALITIES. “The Paris ‘sudent world is one o; the most‘fascinating bits of human.s ciety to be. found anywhere. All’races and nationalities meet there, and every theory and opinion is represented by present or fuure champions. Whan one reflects that about 30 years ago people like Lenin, Trotsky, Dr Sun Yat Sen, and President Hoover were studying abroad, oe can only sur mise what may be the influence yielded a g aeration hence by some of the young men and women now studying abroad. ; 1

f'.'B’Of. the various countries of the world France holds the record for the number of foreign stud nts within her boundaries,” Mr Troup said. “Pari with her 8000 studen/ts from other countries, has a larger foreign student population than any other country in the world. Apart from her intellec+ua. prestige, one of the- main reasons why./ France has - always attracted foreign students is probabily because she s generally non-sectariqp and more or less ‘' fr-.e from prejudice, including race prejudices an d colour prejudices. In addition, the cost of living, although it is now high, used to be low. When the International Student Club began it soon had more than 20 steady French members and 70 oiv 80 of more than a score of other nationalities. Before the end of the year ; ,more than 200 students had enrolled as members. The Fre-nhc, as was to be expected, were the largest single national representation among the membership, and after the French came the Germans. Except for Italy and Spain nearly every other European country was /represented from -im to time. Chinese were the largest non-European element. ISOLATION AND PERSPECT’VE “We believe that such experence as w a gained in Paris will be invalu-able-for teaching purposes, as is <oun-te-racts the effects of our New Zea and isolation,” Mr Troup continued. “We are, however, apt to take our iso’ation too much to heart. It is just as easy to become pardchia! in a country like France or Germany-or the United 'States of America, where life is so strenuous and there is no chance of standing off to get a good perspective. We have that chance here in New Zealand and there is no doubt whatever that it is a great advantage. “From the interest that was shown in New Zealand and lie university syss tern it seems likely that we may have a. growing number of foreign students coining here'in the future if we take, the troub’e to go about'it in the right way. Of course- we shall probably never be.flooded with them as France is, hut our distance away may act as a filter and deter all but the best and most enterprising types from making the journey.