Lynn Accepts D.C. College Post Will Leave Harvard This Spring

Kenneth S. Lynn '45, professor of English, is resigning from Harvard to become professor of American Studies at the newly-created, predominantly negro Federal City College in Washington, D.C.

Lynn said yesterday that he had had a "utopian impulse" and decided to act on it. "This school could be an instrument of reconciliation, a model interracial, urban university. It gives you a chance to believe that your presence makes a difference. His decision parallels a recent move by John U. Monro '38, former dean of the College, who is now director of freshmen studies at Miles College in Birmingham, Ala.

F.C.C. was born out of President Kennedy's concern for the educational situation in the District of Columbia. He created the Chase Commission, which recommended the establishment of a federally-sponsored college in the

Within five years F.C.C. expects to have more than 10,000 students, Lynn added. With the majority of the students drawn from Washington D.C., approximately 25 per cent will be white, and 75 per cent negro. However, students will be accepted from the rest of the nation, as well as from abroad.

F.C.C. has already chosen 2400 students for the inaugural class. As an experiment, they did not use normal criteria of admittance, but chose students at random. "Testing is a particularly in-exact science for people coming out of a ghetto," Lynn said.

Small Classes

Evaluating students wil be part of Lynn's job, as will be faculty recruitment, curriculum planning, and creation of an American Studies Department. Lynn said he is going to try to keep his classes small--under 25--and to have group tutorials.

F.C.C. will place great emphasis on urban affairs and on adult extension courses. The university hopes to initiate a number of programs in the coming years--first an active exchange program