POOR RELATIONS IN THE IVY LEAGUE

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

A word on behalf of Brown: A great amount of excitement has been aroused over the Harvard-Brown game, not the least of which has come in the form of a direct attack upon Brown by your paper, (Brown: Poor Relation of the Ivy League.") Let's got the record straight! During the half-time activities the Harvard band marched down the field while the Brown band was playing our Alan Mater. We feel that this was not the action expected of a good host. Last year, when the game was played in Providence, a large number of Harvard undergraduates enjoyed the hospitality of the fraternities at Brown following the game. They neither behaved as guests nor as gentlemen, several going so far as to steal eight large fraternity flags. At that time, no attack was made on Harvard by the Brown paper; these actions were passed over as high spirits. To get back to this year and the game, during the entire second half there was a great deal of rough play on the field. This is natural in a contact sport; but there seemed to be more than the usual share of it. When the game finished there was a fight between several members of the teams which spread to include fans from both sides. I was in the stands when the fight started, and I saw the punches that were thrown by a Harvard player prior to the end of the game. I was surprised that the referee didn't call a penalty, but I was even more surprised at his disallowing what practically everyone in the stadium believed was the fourth Brown touchdown.

In such a situation, partisanship colors one's viewpoint, but it's outrageously impudent for any attack to be made on a university without giving the whole story. We'll take our revenge by defeating Harvard in football next year, not by trying to smear her name.

Brown is a small IVY LEAGUE college, but her sons are loyal and vocal. You may be sure that your article serves only to bind Brown men more closely and put your own university in an embarrassing position. Robert M. Geirick (Brown '47)