Registration, Neglected for 250 Years, Now Streamlined in Spring

The fastest registration in College history occurs this week, as the University institutes' another "speed-up." On Monday, 'students go to classes in the morning and register in the afternoon at Memorial Hall.

Sargent Kennedy '28, Registrar of the College, explains that this procedure will add two extra teaching days to the spring term, thus allowing the end of classes to be moved ahead.

Registration is relatively now, having been introduced somewhere around 1900--no one seems to be quite sure. Before that time, various procedures were used to ascertain who was in the College and who was not.

For over 250 years after the College opened, there was no registration of any kind. In the 17th Century, the President and tutors of the College customarily administered an oral entrance exam to each candidate for admission. This exam consisted of dissertations in Latin and Greek. Once admitted, the prospective freshman received a copy of the College laws, and the President signed his "admittatur," thus officially admitting him to Harvard.

No Attendence Requirements

Until late in the 1600's, the College "kept" all year since the new session started almost immediately after commencement. Students were not required to be present at any specified time; they often wandered in well after the first quarter was over.

The only official record kept of students was the Butler's Book, which was compiled at the end of the first quarter to write student bills. The names were taken from the list of the students who had paid the steward one shilling for a "beer and sizings" account.

Until 1750, the men were placed in temporary seniority by the steward when they came to school in August. The following spring, the faculty placed them in permanent rank; up to 1712, pretty much by scholastic merit. Later the placing was done on the basis of social prominence, but the entire custom was eliminated in 1750.

The forerunner of modern registration was the Matriculation Book. John William Pitt Abbot '29 was the first student to sign in it, on September 26, 1826. The president of the University conducted this procedure in Wadsworth House. Each incoming freshman was required to sign his name and sponsor (the name of the man or school where he had prepared), and this would suffice for four years.

Signed Only Once

This system was in effect until somewhere in the 1860's, when the Admission Book was inaugurated. The student signed his name there upon first entering the College. He was also required to give come of the information which is now required at registration: his address, age, parents' names, etc.

Modern registration was started around 1900, in President Eliot's administration. The College was expanding rapidly at that time, and it was felt that more complete records were necessary to keep pace with the growth in enrollment.

Reactions to the system were mixed; many complained of being compelled to appear in Cambridge on a certain day and of having to sign their names any number of times on little cards that meant little or nothing to them.

Parental reactions also varied. Many insisted on accompanying their offspring through the registration line to be sure that they gave the correct information on the cards.

Registration of Today

The fall registrant of today signs his name and miscellaneous other information 12 times. He also tells the College his home address and telephone number, his local address and telephone, the country of which he is a citizen, his parents' names, his mother's maiden name, and the names and addresses of two other people who will "always know" his address in case he is "lost" after graduation. The student also says whether he is attending the College under the G.I. Bill of Rights. Each College class has a different color card, which theoretically simplifies filing.

The cards are alphabetized and filed by name, country, and home state. The twelve cards are distributed to miscellaneous parts of the University where they are carefully kept for all sorts of references.

Four of the cards--the University registration card, the information card, the University card, and the University geographical file card--are sent to the information office in Weld Hall. One, the directory card, is sent to the alumni office while others are sent to the comptroller's office, to the Hygiene Department, and to the permanent alumni files in the president's office.

Two of the pink cards which everyone fills out are sent to the Dean's office, one to the registrar's office, and another to the House information office.

Fall registration, which appears to the average student as a very painful procedure, was formerly even more painful. It took the average student over one-half hour to complete the registration process and read the miscellaneous literature enclosed in the envelope.

The inclusion of the immediately non-essential literature in a separate envelope, and help from members of the Crimson Key Society wandering around the room are among the recent innovations which have speeded up the process considerably.

Spring registration is a comparatively simple procedure; the registrant is required to fill out only two information cards this spring.