Joint Exams

The issues in the joint examination controversy have become needlessly complicated in the past few weeks by half-baked words and actions in various places of authority on both sides of the Common. Radcliffe's administration is trying to pawn the whole thing off as a question of procedural simplification, and has plowed ahead despite the over-whelming opposition from the student body. Provest Buck has declared it a question to be decided by the undergraduates, and the Student Council has acted on this theory by approving the program for Harvard without so much as an informal student poll.

All this means that Harvard and Radcliffe will find themselves taking exams together before long, despite the fact that the girls oppose the move almost unanimously and the men have never been given a chance to express themselves on the subject. It is unlikely that a Student Council poll would show a very strong opinion one way or the other--the average Harvard man would not be too upset by the mere presence of Radcliffe students rustling among the bluebooks.

But the same is not true of the girls. Not only would joint exams upset them emotionally (they claim), but they would mean a practical end to their honor system, a highly prized privilege at the Annex. Against this, the administration puts the argument that exams with Harvard are no noisier than separate tests where the girls can come and go unwatched. They also claim that joint exams give Radcliffe a chance to ask professors questions.

It seems unlikely that these reasons alone are enough to lead the Radcliffe Deans to abandon separate exams. If they feel that the honor system in exams is a failure, they should come out and say so. If they merely feel that it would be easier to combine with Harvard, they should take heed of the Radcliffe vote before they make a final decision.