A STEP TOWARDS AN OPEN UNION.

The action of the undergraduate authorities of the Union in allowing all 1918 men to attend the Junior Dance, whether they are members of the Union or not, is a praiseworthy step in the right direction. Originally intended to be a club for all, the Union is now a club only by the mandates of its constitution. At present it is the only place in the University which undergraduates may have for themselves. Here they may hear lecturers, whom the University authorities do not wish to have speak in one of the college buildings and hence, in a sense, under the auspices of Harvard.

The officers of the college have a perfect right to their opinions, and may justly exclude any or all speakers of whom they disapprove. Undergraduates, likewise, are free to hold their own ideas in so far as they do no harm to the regulations of the Faculty and the name of Harvard College. For this reason the Union is invaluable as a place where they may hear whomever they wish to hear, may hold meetings on a common footing, and debate on whatever questions they may choose.

It is therefor extremely fitting that all members of the Junior class should be able to attend their own dance. The extra fee charged to non-members is justified by the fact that technically the Union is still a club and as such cannot be open to all. The time will come we hope, when there will be no such discrimination as membership implies, when the name "Harvard Union" will be a fact as well as a name, and this most important institution in the University will be open to everybody, without distinction.