To the Freshman

Harvard is the oldest and most richly; endowed university in this country. The average Freshman is thus duly impressed with pride in its glory and apprehension lest he cannot live up to its traditions. He is constantly told by his elders and those who should know better that in going to college he is entering Life, that he is On His Own and facing Responsibility. Thus inhibited by good advice he is apt to fear that any independent activity or self-expression will be regarded as a breach of good taste or even of discipline.

As a matter of fact Harvard is more like a nursery than it is like the Wide World. It is a nursery of talent where every mistake but that of inactivity is condoned. If you throw yourself into the life at Harvard, a small replica of the world, personal and academic errors of judgment will not be too serious because of the arena's small size. But if you wait for a mythical stamp of Harvard to be impressed on you its life will pass you by. This is so because there is no recognizable pattern here, no definite ideal to conform to. Henry Adams, who understood Harvard better than any man in the last century, said that the University left the mind "free from bias and docile," and he considered that an achievement.

What is definite is the fact that in Cambridge are gathered many of the best minds of this country and that Harvard's set-up allows easy access to them. Even the youngest student of independent mind can share the benefits of its freedom of inquiry and unorthodoxy of view once he understands its atmosphere.

The CRIMSON welcomes the class of 1943 to Harvard with the hope that it can help its members through some of the mazes they will find here in their first few weeks.