Home Town Boys

The motive force behind the Schools Committees of the Crimson Key and the nation's Harvard Clubs has been a subtle blend of two strands of chauvenism. The first is local pride, which students bring to College with them and transform into Southerners Clubs and Chicago cliques; the second is Harvard pride, which graduates carry out of Cambridge and store up in great quantities in their local Harvard Clubs.

Since the sight of a large flock of home-town boys headed for Harvard naturally flatters both prides, among other reasons, the admissions office has formed the Schools Committees to spread the Harvard gospel to the best young prospects in two. The system functions quite well in cities where the Clubs keep a keen eye on young prospects. In these places, the undergraduate Schools Committeeman spends vacation days visiting a group of good prospects already chosen by the Club committee, in order to give them a student' eye view of the College, Besides, the undergraduate files a report on each aspirant with the Admissions office.

But in cities where the Clubs are lukewarm toward recruitment, and especially in areas where there are no Harvard Clubs, this ideal system deteriorates badly. Instead of receiving a list of pre-tested prospects from Club committeemen, undergraduates soon discover that they are the recruiting. In their short vacation time, they must hunt around town for new prospects instead of injecting conviction into men already interested. Worse, when the undergraduate recruiter returns to Cambridge, nobody follows up his prospects--except perhaps the Yale and Princeton scouts. It is little wonder, than, that from the standpoint of number and quality of applications, some areas are woefully underdeveloped.

The best solution in the long run is to plant Harvard Club Schools Committees in these areas, or activate the ones which faintly exist. For only the alumni have the time and experience to guide prospects from inclination to active application. But until this happens, the undergraduates need help. Some can come from college placement officers in their old secondary schools, who usually regard the boys they place in Harvard as so many feathers in their bonnets. They would usually be willing, if asked to screen out the best prospects and lead the undergraduates to them. Secondly, there should be a close link between the Undergraduate Schools Committee and the Admissions Office, to help students in these areas avoid the pitfalls of tact and judgement that the so common in the recruitment game. Dean Bender's roving recruiters could also follow up good prospects in the underdeveloped areas.

By filling in for the default of the Club Committee, these plans would light up the paths in many areas in which Undergraduate Schools Committeeman have done some well intentioned, but relatively unsuccessful grouping.