Bingham Sees New Football Fiscal Policies, Scheduling

Harvard University will soon guarantee jobs to athletes and assume at least part of the financing of the Athletic Association, HAA Director William J. Bingham '16 stated yesterday to the Associated Press.

At the same time Bingham said that Harvard would play no more inter sectional football games. "We are not going to compete with the West and the South," he said. "We are going to play in our own class. We are going to stick to the Ivy League." He added, however, that no games now contracted for will be cancelled.

Provost Buck, who has final authority over the financial policies of the HAA, was unwilling either to confirm or deny completely the statements attributed to Bingham. (Bingham himself was not at home in the early part of the evening, and after 9 p.m. his apartment was dark and apparently empty.) The Provost's statement to the CRIMSON was this:

"It is premature to describe the report of an interview with Mr. Bingham as an official statement of University policy. As Director of Athletics Mr. Bingham's views carry much weight. But the HAA is an integral part of the University, and the views of other interested parties in the University including students and alumni meet be considered.

"I am now in the process of making a through study of the situation. An announcement of policy will not be ready until after New Year."

Committee at Work

The CRIMSON learned last night from outside sources that an Overseer's committee, chaired by Henry W. Clark '23, has been preparing a report on the subject of the HAA's finances. This report, however, has not been submitted for approval and is still in the planning stages.

Bingham quoted President Conant as, saying that "if athletics are good, they are good for everybody," and stated that the President's "credo" was that an athlete should be treated the same as any other student.

But the HAA Director was quoted assaying that there are two things Harvard will offer an athlete: "A chance for the best education he can get anywhere, and a job at which he will have to work."

This assurance of work and of job stability for athletes would be a definite departure from long-standing University policy, which at present offers no preferential rating to athletes seeking part time employment.

The second "milestone," according to Bingham, is a shift in the financing of the HAA. He explained that the burden of carrying the athletic program is going to be shifted in part from football receipts to the University budget.

Until now, the HAA has been budgeted on a self-sufficient basis. In the past three years, this has resulted in a $326,000 deficit. Now, according to the AP story, the University's "athletics are going to be put on a footing similar to its educational activities. That, Bingham hopes, will in time ease up the overpowering pressure for big games, big victories, and big gate receipts."

(This policy, if put into effect, would mean that the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which now pays the HAA deficits, would be relieved of that burden; the University, either through this Faculty or some other agency, would provide at least part of the funds now raised through gate receipts, on a regular, instead of a deficit spending, basis.)

Other parts of the interview, which was sent over the AP national wire at 5:45 p.m. yesterday, quoted Bingham on the current football situation in the Ivy League. He was reported as saying that in the Ivy League Harvard was cutting out Pennsylvania--"We cannot compete against their State scholarships."

(Harvard has not played Pennsylvania since 1942, when the series between the college was suspended without any policy statement.)

Bingham's remarks on the schedule came just before his departure for the scheduling meeting of Ivy colleges in New York, where dates for 1952 and beyond will be set.

Stick to Our Class

The article continues: "The Big Three' no longer exists, Bingham said, and the Ivy League is a better set up. 'We've got a good program and we're going to stick in our own class. Big Time football is out.

"If we stick to our class there is no reason whey Harvard won't get its reasonable share of victories. We played some games out of our class this year and Cornell, Dartmouth, and Brown came up with the strongest teams they have had for some time.

"These things balance up. Give us time to catch up with our schedule (game have to be scheduled two and three years in advance) and the pendulum of victories will swing our way.