New Hope for Non-Honors

The faint revival of discussion on non-Honors tutorial is all to the good. Ever since the CEP drew up the honors program two years ago and left plans for non-Honors tutorial in tantalizing limbo, discussion on the latter has tended to degenerate into fruitless procrastination.

The continued absence of a non-Honors tutorial program for juniors and seniors is harmful both because it tends to strengthen the College's division into intellectual have's and have not's, and because it deprives many students of an educational opportunity from which they might benefit greatly. Many of the students who leave the Honors program do so, not because of incapability or laziness, but because they prefer to follow interests they consider more rewarding than academic specialization. But tutorials opportunities for informal discussion and close contact with a tutor can profit these students as well as those in honors.

Any non-Honors tutorial should be voluntary, interdepartmental, and House-oriented as much as possible. A student could join a small group that would combine related fields, such as History, Government and Economics; English and History; or Social Relations and Government. (The smaller fields have in many cases offered their own tutorial for non-Honors and Honors students.)

These small groups could run weekly throughout the year and offer half-course credit and a grade, thus encouraging those who show genuine interest, and eliminating those with no serious intentions. If they wish, non-Honors students who do well in these interdepartmental tutorials might on the strength of their record and a qualifying essay be readmitted to Honors. Honors students, furthermore, should also be allowed to enroll in these tutorial group as much as facilities would permit.

In addition to offering non-Honors students beneficial tutorial opportunity, the program could point the way to new interdepartmental combinations, valuable for the both Honors and non-Honors study. Because of its many advantages, the non-Honors program should be brought from the realm of utopian discussion to that of practical planning and implementation.