HONORS TO THE FRESHMEN

The list of Freshmen who won honors in their entrance examinations, published in today's issue, is apt to be overlooked because of the preponderance of football material. Nevertheless it presents just as worthy a record of achievement as that of our football heroes. If the pen is not now mightier than the pigskin, its day will come. Those Freshmen who have temporarily but strenuously achieved, are deserving of all honor.

That their accomplishment is not fleeting is shown by the records of last year's honor entrance men. Out of twenty-two who received highest honors, six made first group last year, eight made second group, and only two failed to be recorded in the Rank List. These figures partially corroborate President Foster's much attacked contention that early marks point to later success. They go to show that the recognition accorded to this year's Freshmen is an indication not of passing accomplishment but of permanent ability.

It is interesting to note the geographical division of the honor men. Greater Boston, of course, leads with twenty-four men; New Hampshire has thirteen, far out of proportion to her total enrolment. Nearly all of the men come from the New England states; distant states are practically unrepresented. Mesa, Arizona, sends the one representative of the Far West. Perhaps the most interesting contributor of all is the Realgymnasium of Bremen, Germany. Out of the clouds of war, Germany is the only foreign nation whose scholarship is represented in the list. Even world-strife will not conquer her intellectual supremacy.

The chief interest in these statistics no doubt is in the representation of schools. They serve mainly to show the shift and variation from year to year, as brilliant men chance to attend different schools, but they also show a tendency of some schools to remain in the honor class. While St. Mark's, last year's leader, is unrepresented this year, and Boston Latin, this year's leader, was in ninth place the year before, Exeter, Country Day School, Groton and St. Paul's School have shown a tendency to hold their respective places. Although one year's high rank may not be a certain measure of a school's efficiency, continued presence in the honor list must mean superior methods of teaching. Hence, although the winning school each year deserves the medal awarded to it, still more justice would be obtained by awarding two or three prizes for the highest score over a period of years.

But whatever the rewards, every man of the sixty-four deserves credit, and to them Harvard looks for her future scholars, her future members of Phi Beta Kappa.