Report on War Memorial Favors Scholarships Along with $200,000 Plaque Honoring Dead

"A memorial within Memorial Church, incorporating the names of Harvard men lost in the war, together with a scholarship fund..." won overwhelming support at the October 19 meeting of the Alumni War Memorial Committee, according to an announcement yesterday by Ralph Lowell '12, acting Chairman.

Lowell, Associated Harvard Clubs President who is leading the deliberations toward selection of a memorial in the absence of Senator Leverett Saltonstall '14, estimated the plaque's expense at $200,000, with the scholarship fund flexible in scope and based on a $500,000 minimum.

Alternate possibilities which the Committee still grants a chance equal to its first choice are the undergraduate-endorsed Student Activities Center and a Medical Center. The report states that the three proposals will get an airing through the pages of the Alumni Bulletin. By the next meeting, scheduled for February, a "final" decision should have been reached.

Release Cost Estimates

The financial estimate for the Student Activities Center, backed by the results of a Student Council poll last year, showed an expense of $3,000,000 to $4,000,000, including endowment. $4,000,000 would cover an expanded Medical Center.

Culled from a crop of 34 proposals, the three top choices edged out certain others "for which it did not seem an appeal among Alumni would be likely to bring in a sufficient return to carry out these projects," Lowell explained.

"The terms on which the scholarships, combined with the memorial in the Church, would be awarded were not seriously discussed by the Committee, except that it was their feeling that priorities should be given sons of men lost in the war."

"Obviously in time this group would have received their education at Harvard, or elsewhere, in which case the scholarships might be open to all on terms prescribed by the University authorities. The Committee hopes to make a final choice at its next meeting.

Created by joint action of the Alumni Association and the Associated Harvard Clubs, the Saltonstall committee has been weighing suggestions for war memorials during the past nine months.

Under the plan which the majority supports, the World War II plaque in Memorial Church would be placed adjacent to the room commemorating the dead of World War I.

Committee Membership

The member of the committee are: Chairman Saltonstall, Acting Chairman Lowell, Richard G. Axt, Jr. '46, Henry H. Chattield '89, John F. Kennedy '40, Frederick F. Moseley, Jr. '36, George A. Perey '18, Nathan Pereles '04, George Rublee '90, Philip C. Staples, Jr. '37, Augustus Thorndike '19, and Robert S. Wolcott '36.

Kennedy has been unable to participate in the committee's deliberations because of illness.