Some perspectives on the potential of undergraduates' formal and informal experiences outside of the classroom are detailed. The paper presents historical information beginning with the concern of inculcating good manners and habits of responsibility as learning objectives for the extracurriculum. It discusses the analogy of the extracurriculum as a real-life laboratory situation and introduces the goal of developing good leadership, fellowship, and other qualities of good citizenship. Next, the paper details the articulation of a broader educational philosophy for student activities and calls for the reintegration of the "out-of-class" experiences and the classroom, and the identification of learning goals to be a distinct contribution of the extracurriculum itself to the academic life of the institution. The paper concludes with a brief summary of what current research reveals about the effects of student involvement in out-of-class activities. (MKA)