Harvard Changed by War But Returning to Normalcy

Harvard is still very much at war, and military and naval personnel continue to exceed the University's civilian population. But many signs in the past year pointed an approach to pre-war standards. It was a year, for example, in which the percentage of veterans in the undergraduate population showed a sharp rise.

The "Veteran Problem"

1944-45 was a year in which educators spoke more and more about the "veteran problem," with President Conant suggesting revision in the G. I. Bill of Rights in his annual report.

Late in January, Harvard followed Yale and led most other colleges in announcing the return to the two-term calendar, with this summer forming a transition period.

Figures released in February showed that the Class of 1948 was reversing the wartime trend toward science concentration and that English and allied subjects were first in preference. As the death-rate of service schools began to outdistance the birthrate, the Navy announced its return to pre-war officer standards, with the V-12 program being merged into the NROTC.

In early March came the report that Radcliffe's WAVE contingent would ship out July 11, but at Harvard it was indicated that the School for Oversees Administration might continue until the fall of 1946; and the Naval Supply and Communications Schools were still going strong.

Entrance Requirements Relaxed

Late in April, the University announced a relaxation in entrance requirements to facilitate veteran admission, the Law School having already taken that step by itself. And in the same week, as Copey celebrated his 85th birthday, the College reported that Kirkland House, occupied by the Navy since the summer of 1943, would be opened to civilians this summer.

When the catalogue listing course offerings for 1945-46 appeared in May, the SERVICE NEWS commented that Liberal Arts education at Harvard had "received its most forthright and encouraging boost since the start of the second world war." Strikingly evident in the new course list was the emphasis on the Soviet Union by the Economics, Geography, and Anthropology Departments.

McKay, Brinton, Holcombe Return

Throughout this period, and increasingly towards the end, professors were returning, or announcing their plans to return, to Harvard from wartime positions with the government: Donald C. McKay, associate professor of History, C. Crane Brinton '19, professor of History, Arthur N. Holcombe, professor of Government, and William Y. Elliott, professor of Government. Professor Elliott's return next fall was considered unlikely, however, in the light of his recent appointment by President Truman to the committee investigating the Philippine Islands.

Three weeks ago, the war-time physical conditioning program was eased, with Juniors and Seniors relieved of the four-times-a-week athletic requirement, and with the demand on Freshmen and Sophomores cut to thrice weekly. In peacetime, only Freshmen were required to take athletics. Three weeks ago Richard C. Harlow, Harvard's famed football coach, returned from the Navy. But Harvard's intercollegiate athletic schedule was still strictly informal: for at least a third year of war there would be no Yale game