Ford in the Future

Now that the Masters have experimented with their Ford grants--purchasing everything from sherry and seminar rooms to tape recorders and jazz concerts--it is time to count up the wins and losses. An annual allowance of $2500 to each Master leaves little rom for fumbles. Unfortunately, these scarce funds have paid for such capital improvements as House seminar rooms, and in one House such a project consumed half the grant for two successive years. In general, the Ford money should not be invested in brick and mortar.

Many Houses are using the money largely to attract "big name" visitors to their guest suites. But, to import a celebrity is expensive (he receives transportation costs plus a generous "honorarium," seldom refused). As Master Perkins explained, a House can easily spend 15 per cent of its yearly allowance on a single short-term visitor. Furthermore, celebrities are busy men, usually unable to remain in Cambridge more than a few days. Contact with students may be limited to shaking hands, trading pleasantries over sherry glasses, and a speech. It is never enlightening to hear a man--however great--repeat what he said last week in the New York Times. Many "big name" visitors, particularly political figures, find it hard to go beyond their public pronouncements, and it seems extravagant to spend so much money for such a superficial contact.

On the other hand, a certain type of House guest, though not initially so appealing, has proved highly desirable. Master Brower calls them "informal teachers"--people in all fields who thrive on close contact with students, and who can stay in the House longer than seventy-two hours.

The Masters are also enthusiastic about tutor-student dinners, and these should be preserved, if only for those students who know nothing so exciting as facing their tutors across a white table-cloth and wineglass. If the undergraduate is to float through the House system in a sea of second-class sherry, he might at least have intellectual company.

In addition, it is worthwhile for Masters to underwrite new House activities, such as drama and music groups. Expenditures in this area should be flexible, according to the imaginative suggestions of the students themselves.

If the Masters encourage more long-term visits and less "big name" whistle-stops, if they channel their money into student projects rather than House seminar rooms, the Ford grants will better serve their purpose of rounding out the rather spotty educational offerings of the House system.