TWINKLE, TWINKLE

If a University is a planetarium and its faculty is the firmament cast on the dome, then Harvard has, during the last week, greatly brightened her projector. For to Harvard comes Robert Frost, owner of a scintillating name in American poetry. Also Go Strawinsky, master of savage rhythms and colorful orchestrations, conceded by even his intellectual critics as one of the three most popular living composers. And finally I. A. Richards, propounder of impressive literary theories and leading searcher after values in this drifting generation. The total is a quite amazing addition to the list of big names sported by Harvard's catalogs.

Harvard would not be the nation's premier university were this list not long and impressive. That is to say that the good people of Macon and Fresno would not recognize her as such. One Bruening adds much more to her reputation than fifty conscientious and sympathetic instructors. And speaking quite seriously, it is essential for a university to nurture her reputation in this manner. Public relations are not the least among the worries of a modern college president.

But here as everywhere there is a dilemma and a compromise required. An unmitigated policy of giant-killing produces a topheavy teaching structure: luxuriant foliage at top, but no roots to feed and support. A continuous effort to garner big names means neglect of the large body of instructors who provide most of the teaching. The non-exceptional student suffers by having less and poorer guidance at his disposal.

This, of course, is mere generalization. In many cases, big names, outside of their publicity value, provide a net profit on the investment. Even if such men are not available to students, they are extremely valuable for the new ideas which they scatter among their colleagues. Here in particular, a man like Richards is capable of injecting a gush of vitality into Harvard's ailing English department. In the final analysis, it is simply a question of whether the giants will continue to progress and to create, or whether they will stolidly rest on past achievement. An in this case, the augurs are generally favorable.