BISHOP LAWRENCE TELLS HOW CORPORATION SETTLES WEIGHTY UNIVERSITY PROBLEMS

An intimate and detailed description of a Corporation, from the disposition of millions of dollars to the details of a simple lunch, is divulged by the Right Reverend William Lawrence '71, Bishop of Massachusetts, in an article in the current number of the Alumni Bulletin.

Bishop Lawrence, who retires today from his actual administrative duties after 32 years of ecclesiastical service, discusses the Corporation's part in the government of the University.

President is Real Head

"The President is the real head of the University", says the article after discussing the position and brief history of members of the Corporation. "Up to him comes through authoritative channels every problem for solution; from him flows through authoritative channels the answers to the problems.

"The Fellows are his confidential advisers, and as a body his colleagues, for the cannot take action, without their approval. In my 12 years as a Fellow we have rarely taken action that was not unanimous: we have thrashed out the problem, even if it took weeks, until all were satisfied with the final solution.

"How often does the Corporation meet, and what is the business?

"The Corporation meets at the Treasurer's office, '50 State Street, Boston, occasionally at the President's office in University Hall, on the second and last Mondays of the months from 10.30 in the morning until the business is done, usually about 1.30, sometimes later. As to attendance, every member makes this his first duty. In September I set down all the dates until Commencement in my engagement book, and adjust my plans through the year to them. Others doubtless do the same. Of course there are other duties for each Fellow besides the meetings. The charter empowers the President and Fellows 'to hold a meeting for the debating and concluding of affairs'.

Receive Docket Two Days Ahead

"As to the business, may I sketch a meeting as held at any time this year? Two days before the date we receive a copy of the docket. At 10.30 we sit around the table, the President at the head. The Treasurer has placed before each of us two sheaves of paper: one, the list of changes of investments in the past two weeks by himself and the two members who compose the Finance Committee. These changes amount usually to several hundred thousand dollars. He has questions to ask about purchase of real estate, about important leases, and" internal problems of finance.

"At the last meeting, for instance, the question, was raised as to the advisability of buying unimproved, land before the University needs it. Neglect to do this for lack of funds has cost the University heavily, in the end. The doing so leads the University into expenditure which is somewhat speculative. Of course, the answer depends upon the conditions in each case, but some-answer has to be given the Treasurer.

"The second paper is a list of bequests and gifts during two weeks, filling several typewritten sheets, from bequests and gifts of hundreds of thousands to five dollars; for the University receives from two to five million a year, and there are only 20 meetings.

"The original charter reads that the President and Fellows 'shall and may purchase and acquire to themselves, or take and receive upon free gift and donation any land, tenements or hereditaments, within the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay, not exceeding the value of 500 pounds per annum, and any goods and sums of money whatsoever, etc.' Inasmuch as the expenditure of the College this year is $1,486,000, there has evidently been some growth.

"Next follow lists of scholarships and fellowships and prizes granted by the Faculty and other authorities which must receive the formal approval of the Corporation. The appointment of from 20 to 50 teachers of various ranks with salaries attached requires in some cases explanation of the President, or elicits questions from the Fellows. Fuller attention is given to the appointments for three years or more, such as Assistant Professors; and in the case of the election of Professors, the President who after conferences with the heads of the several departments has received these names, describes fully the conditions and the men, answers questions, and frequently postpones action for weeks in order that more mature consideration may be given. Professors are always elected by ballot and are subject to confirmation by the Overseers.

"At about this time a man sets on

the table a large tray containing soup, coffee, bottles of certified milk, educator crackers, of course, and salted tongue sandwiches. I have always assumed that these last are a traditional luncheon from the days of Massachusetts Bay. Business goes on without interruption while each Fellow helps himself.

"More important than those important appointments and elections are discussions of and decisions upon the larger policies of the University; for it will be noted that the President and Fellows are responsible for the administration of all Graduate Schools and other interests, even to the Observatory in South America.

"For instance, in the election of a professor, 'the question is discussed as to whether he is really the strongest man that can be obtained from any point in America or Europe; for President Lowell, believing that Harvard must sustain its primacy, is never content with any teachers less than the very best, and is insistent on waiting several years rather than load the staff for a generation with good but not exceptional men. He has thus brought department after department up to the highest standard, as has been shown in the report of the President of Miami College to the Association of American Colleges.

Action Follows Long Discussion

"Years before a new Department or Graduate School is known to the public, its inauguration has been talked over informally by the President with the leaders of the Departments most affected, with the Departments and the Faculty; while at the same time informal discussion has gone on in the Corporation, and later information is given informally by the President to the Overseers; so that when the President and Fellows take formal action, the progress of the plan is assured. While the public is aroused by some headlines about startling changes or developments, the President and Fellows have passed that subject months before, and are at work upon the next development or problem.

"When we realize that there are 172 professors, besides several hundred other instructors in the College alone, each and all of them pressing their own work, some of them sensitive about the pressure of others or their difficult conditions, we appreciate that the office of the President of Harvard University is no sinecure. If he be considerate of all, he is called slow: if he moves quickly he is called autocratic. The one essential is this, that the President have behind and with him full confidence for his ability devotion, leadership and sense of justice: this he has from the great body of teachers and officers, from the Overseers and Alumni: and this he has in full measure from the six men who sit with him every other week, at 'debating and concluding of affairs.'