College Cancels Football Game with Stanford

Next fall's football game with Stanford University has been cancelled. Provost Buck announced the change in schedule last night.

In releasing his brief statement, Buck said that the game had been cancelled in order to lighten a "far too heavy" schedule. He also said that the date September 30--will remain unfilled, and expressed appreciation for the cooperation of Stanford officials in the matter.

According to Stanford's Director of Athletics, Alfred Masters, officials at the Palo Alto, California, school received a note on Monday, requesting that the game be dropped. Following a conversation between Masters and Wallace Storling, Stanford president, Indian officials agreed to accept Harvard's proposal of cancellation.

Cancelling the game will not force Harvard to take a financial loss, Masters said, and he did not know whether Stanford would schedule a fill-in game. The contest was slated to be played in the Stadium as the return engagement in a home-and-home arrangement with Stanford. Harvard played its opening game at Palo Alto last fall and lost, 44 to 0, the first of eight losses in a nine-game schedule.

Buck, who has been in California for the last few days, recently submitted a report to the Corporation on the University's athletic program. Although the contents of the report have not yet been made public, indications are that Harvard intends to avoid intersectional games and play only Ivy League and traditional rivals.

Many observers felt that injuries suffered in the Stanford game were, to a great degree, responsible for the team's poor showing during the rest of the season.

As a result of the cancellation, Harvard will face an eight-game schedule next fall. The squad will have an added week of pre-season practice and will open in the Stadium against Columbia on October 7.