Communication.

We invite all members of the University to contribute to this column, but we are not responsible for the sentiments expressed.

To the Editors of the Crimson:

In the name of those who believe that Harvard is and ought to be a university and not merely a college, I wish to protest against the action of the Athletic Committee in refusing to ratify the election of Captain Waters. We believe that every member of the University, no matter in what department, has a vested right to represent Harvard in athletics. This vested right it has been found necessary to abridge to a certain extent to kill the canker that threatened the very life of intercollegiate athletics-the so-called "professional" athlete. This was done by the one year residence clause, which has met with almost universal approval, and by the four year time limit, the advisability of which is by no means so certain. But in the present instance the Athletic Committee has cut down this vested right from no such fundamental necessity. It has established an arbitrary class, viz., academic undergraduates, and declared that all captains of what are still called university organizations shall be drawn from it. This class is based mainly on the personal opinion of advisability that the committee entertains, and has not the excuse of practical necessity which the rules for eligibility had. In view of these facts we feel that the Athletic Committee has acted in a way highly detrimental to the best interests of Harvard University. '91.