THE YALE INSTITUTE

The appropriation of seven and a half million dollars for establishing an Institute of Human Relations at Yale, whose spirit will dominate that university in the future is an innovation, to say the least. The general object of the plan is to combine theoretical and practical sciences in analyzing and benefitting human life and relations. A comprehensive study of man in his relations to his fellow man is believed to be the key to understanding the individual. Knowledge of such theoretical sciences as biology, psychology, and sociology will be used in conjunction with what is known of such applied sciences as law, medicine, and psychiatry, analyzing the mind with the body in determining the governing influences of human behavior. Optimistic predictions of the great success expected from this novel experiment are many and varied.

The gift of this large sum of money is an example of the present tendency of generous benefactors definitely to stipulate for what particular purposes this money is to be used. One recalls the recent donations to Vassar, the University of Michigan, and, overtopping them all in generosity, that of eleven million dollars to Harvard University to establish the House Plan. Evidently such restrictive stipulations may be considered by some, as President Little in the case of the stipulated donation to the University of Michigan, unnecessarily to hamper the authorities in attaining the general objective with the best possible results. It is true that a donor's foresight is never quite equal to contemporary professional judgment in achieving a desired project, and may sometimes unduly limit such an achievement. Whatever may be the result of this definitely stipulated gift to Yale, this educational experiment is one that will be watched with great interest.