THE DEGREE OF A GENTLEMAN

Claiming that the success of the House Plan is threatened by a combination of high costs and depressed pocketbooks, an article in the current Harvard Graduate's Magazine proposes a new remedy for the situation. Taking his cue from the satisfactory experience of English Universities, the author would attract wealthy men to Harvard by inaugurating a "gentleman's degree." He suggests that the change could be effected simply by making the tutorial system a "privilege rather than a requirement"; only men in the first four scholastic groups could consult tutors. Others would do no tutorial work, would not be required to take comprehensive examinations, and would be awarded an inferior degree.

Superficially, the suggestion is attractive. Freed from enervating periods with uninterested students, tutors could preserve their energies for more worthy men. Wealthy "gentlemen," unhampered by exacting requirements, would probably be attracted to a new dilettante paradise; expensive suites would be permanently filled and financial worries ended. But the exclusion of men in lower scholastic groups from the tutorial system constitutes a serious objection to the proposal. These students, although some are unquestionably a fatiguing bore to tutors, benefit occasionally more than any others from contact with men who are trying to stimulate their intellectual interests. To deny them so valuable an influence would be to disregard one of the fundamental purpose of the tutorial system.

Under present conditions, ambitions students are afforded the opportunity for a thorough education, while the lectsurely man finds little difficulty in ekeing out the required minimum marks. Despite the attractiveness of added remuneration from a wealthy upper stratum those who suggest panaceas for stricken budgets should consider that a university ought primarily to maintain its scholastic standard. The proposal of the Graduate's Magazine, if adopted, would injure the University's reputation and attract a group sure to be stagnant and barren of any real worth other than financial.