HARVARD, PRIVATELY ENDOWED

There has been much talk of late about Harvard's position as a privately endowed University, an institution free from all political or other pressure. This position has been made possible by the generous gifts of the College's graduates, who, over the course of many years, have been willing to sacrifice part of their own pleasure in order to benefit Harvard.

Their generosity has sprung partially from a feeling of obligation to the University. That is they received their education for a nominal sum aggregating far less than the actual cost of that education. Also, they have felt that the College represented a conservative force in the United States which was infinitely valuable during many years of stress and struggle, a force which advanced steadily on an even keel despite upheavals which were apparent on all sides.

Has Harvard repaid the generosity of these men? Has the University given them an adequate training on the basis of which they have been able to go out into the world, handle big business and government? Undoubtedly it can be said that they have "Received their money's worth". They have been given the opportunity to get the best that there was or is in the United States in the way of education.

But is there not something more than an opportunity which should be offered to them? All men have not the force of character to walk forward on their own initiative and grasp such opportunity. Examples by the score can be found in the College today of men who have been pleasantly drifting through their four years here. Many such men get into the College in the first place because of a long family connection with Harvard, and it is fitting that they should be here. Looked at from a hard boiled point of view, if they are drifters it is their own fault, and they should be allowed to drift.

But looked at from the point of view of a Harvard which has an active responsibility in turning men into the world who are fitted to take their places in a selected profession, it is criminally wrong to let drifters float out unprepared. There is certainly no doubt that there are many such men graduating from Harvard every year, with the stamp of an A.B. after their names. Eventually, some solution must be found for their problem. For now it is the duty of the University to make every effort possible to inspire these men to study by supplying them with stimulating leadership, to realize that the finished product going out of Cambridge is not in many cases adequately trained.