Committee Reports On Size of College; Little Agreement Found Among Members

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences discussed the future size of the College for an hour and a half yesterday, but at the end of the meeting there was little agreement on the basic issue.

An informal report by Robert G. McCloskey, professor of Government and chairman of a Faculty committee on the size of the College, touched off the discussion. McCloskey said that though he favored a gradual increase in enrollment of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, he thought the number of students in the College should not be raised. But McCloskey emphasized that other members of the Committee disagreed about the College and that he could not speak for the Committee as a whole.

Harris Sees Increase As 'Reasonable'

One Committee member with a different view was Seymour E. Harris, Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Political Economy. Harris felt an increase in enrollment was reasonable, provided the College economized on some of its costs. Harris agreed with McCloskey on the desirability of GSAS expansion.

The most vocal of the anti-expansion Faculty members was Elliott Perkins '23, Master of Lowell House. Considering the issue from the point of view of the Houses, Perkins said that there were 250 too many upperclassmen at present. If the College adds a tenth House, Perkins felt, it should be used to remove this many students from the existing buildings. He said that no House should have more than 400 students, in any case; and that the "esprit de corps" of the students would suffer if enrollment rose higher.

Monro Endorses Increase

Dean Monro, on the other hand, pointed out that in the past ten years the number of students under the Faculty of Arts and Sciences has increased by 1200, of whom 450 were at the undergraduate level. He said he "wasn't aware of any violent dislocations this had produced," and he saw no reason why the College could not absorb another 500 students by 1972, provided a tenth House was added.

President Pusey said that long-range expansion by more than 500 was not possible from a practical standpoint.