War Our Heritage

Congress is pointing Uncle Sam's finger at 18 year olds, the Army Enlisted Reserve is about to be called to the colors, and even the shops in the Square feature only uniforms,--but the Freshman needn't be as bewildered as he is usually pictured. This old advice cannot be so glibly given as in former years. Yet even if the war has greatly altered both Harvard and the Freshman, some of the old saws can still be repeated. He is bent on preparing himself for some special job, or enlisting in one of the reserves, but he can and should salvage some of the features of a Harvard education.

Only in extreme cases should he plan to dive right into Math A, Physics A, Engin. Sci. 1, and Chem. A all in one year. If possible he should take at least one course in the humanities or social sciences, and in no wise should he rely on English A and French E for his entire liberal education. And he can make good use of his extra hours, though they may be few, by auditing a wide variety of cultural courses. Although it is best for the Freshman to devote himself seriously to the war effort, he can get most out of his stay in Cambridge if he samples by some method more than the bare minimum of courses that he is required to take in each of the three fields of study.

Some of the customary advice-to-Freshman still applies. It's usually divided into two parts, the curricular and social, and the schism stands in spite of all the transformations. In his studies the new Harvard man nearly always finds his greatest difficulty not in newly uncovered ignorance, but in simple fear. There is no blinking the fact that instruction by lecture is a terrifying method at first, and it is equally useless to deny that course work can be harrowing. Luckily, however, the instructors in Freshman courses realize that fact and will have intelligence enough to allow for it. Just remember that if the going gets tough, advisors and instructors are not unapproachable--see them about it, that's what they're there for.

Remember that the University doesn't dictate to anyone the way he should spend his spare time. Harvard has assumed that its students are adults, and so far the assumption has stood the test fairly well. Although most cocktail lounges have been disrupted in these crowded days relaxation has not been outlawed And Phillips Brooks House has not let the war interrupt its Harvard-Radcliffe teas. Football games and post-game dances have not been cancelled. The Houses, into which Freshmen are moved for the first time this year, have arranged for men of '46 to meet and to cement some sort of class solidarity.

Above all, don't get the idea that Freshmen are to be seen and not heard. That concept has never taken very deep root around the Square and would be especially folish now. Neither Faculty nor undergraduates have ever seen a term quite like this before, and most of them are just as much at sea as you are.