IT MUST BE SO

As further proof of the indignant feeling aroused among Harvard men by the constant antagonism of the University authorities to the work of Professor George Pierce Baker, the CRIMSON gladly reprints in full an editorial from the Harvard Alumni Bulletin of Thursday, October 2.

The Play's the Thing

"My gossip, Report," turns out, as often before, not to "be an honest woman of her word." Professor Baker has no present intention of transferring either himself or the 47 Workshop to Columbia. It is true that Professor Baker is to enjoy a long-deferred and well-earned year of rest, and that the 47 Workshop is temporarily shopless, owing to the transformation of Massachusetts Hall into a dormitory. But Professor Baker takes leave of his Cambridge friends "with pleasant anticipation of renewed work together," and it is unbelievable that in this era of building and expansion he should not, upon his return, be provided with really adequate facilities, including, it is hoped, the "little theatre" of which he has so long dreamed.

But if rumor has played us false, she has perhaps done us a good turn. We are too prone to take our good things for granted. We have enjoyed Professor Baker as one enjoys good health or the other bounties of nature, without ever quite realizing what life would be without him. In the future we are going to be more conscious of our good fortune, more grateful for it, and more disposed to earn it. Professor Baker has been disinterestedly devoted to the University, and after many years of untiring and creative labor has organized a method of teaching and research in dramatic art that is widely recognized as one of the University's most distinguished achievements. It is now time for a little generosity on the part of the University. Because he has made much of little, he should be given much; because he has proved that his idea can triumph over bodily limitations it deserves a suitable and adequate embodiment. It is doubtless possible for a university to exist without a "47 Workshop," but it would not be possible for Harvard to be Harvard without a wide diversity of intellectual interest, a warm appreciation of leadership and initiative, a hospitality to new enterprises, and an eager desire to promote art and learning in the larger American community. Because the 47 Workshop is peculiarly symbolic of these values, the thought of losing it is intolerable.

We are glad that a false rumor has given us an opportunity of saying these things, and of expressing to Professor Baker the gratitude and admiration of his many Harvard friends. We wish him joy of his sabbatical leave, and after that a new and greater Workshop--at Harvard.