Armed Forces Come First, Conant Asserts

Flashing an all-out green signal, President Conant last night told his Sanders Theatre audience that the demand for speed is desperate and "for young men the needs of the armed services now overshadow all other considerations."

In his first explanation of the place of the undergraduate in the war since December 8, President Conant conceded that "the situation is extremely complicated" and "involves highly personal moral problems."

Less Deferment in Future

He admitted that "the University cannot tell any individual exactly what he should do," but hinted "in the future we may expect that the deferments asked by this University will be relatively few and far between."

Urging that students who plan to leave College early select courses of "the greatest cultural nourishment," President Conant specifically suggested instruction in American civilization and the Great Authors. "The usual liesurely a la carte method of obtaining a liberal education has almost vanished," he explained.

On the problem of leaving College before obtaining a degree, he expressed his individual opinion to the estimated 325 students in Sanders, "Personally I should not want to advise any man who had a strong urge to leave College and enlist this course of action. Nor, conversely, would I wish to advise any student to give up a profitable line of study before its completion, provided he had already worked out his part in the national effort... The responsibility in time of war should be with the federal government."

He described three alternatives for those physically fit: the Navy's V-1 program, the newly-announced Air Force Enlisted Reserve, and the Army.

Introduced by Loren G. McKinney '42, President Conant accepted from Chairman John W. Sullivan '43 a petition signed by 1,150 undergraduates yesterday. The petition, addressed to President Roosevelt, stated, "Realizing that the heart of the Axis lies in Hitler Germany, and that the "turtle policy" can only lead to disaster, we, the undersigned students of Harvard University, in this critical period, which may determine the fate of the United States, wish to reaffirm our complete support of your policy of carrying the war to the enemy, making every sacrifice and bending every effort to ensure the opening of a second front."