The Washington times., 1933-05-13

mates we'll enough to call them by their first Names and
they believe that Harvard must have been nest of snobs
in the old days-whch is far from the truth The truth
is that between 1910 and 1914, at least at Har
ward cared whoop in what class you happened to be-
Make Your Own Way
The great building program which will probably be
President Lowels memorable contribution to the unver
sity only beginning and freshmen went haphazard
into any dormtores except those reserved for seniors
They had friends from preparatory schools and made
other friends by the simple process of discovering people
whom they liked who interested in the things
with whom they got along WELL The accident that two
three hundred men had entered college the
day never seemed particularly important If they had
been brighter they might have entered year earlier and
if they had broken leg and been kept out of school they
might have entered year later.
It hard system in one way: the lonely man, COM
ing from small private school or large and distant high
school, found himself isolated just when he needed COM
panonshp most On the other hand when he made
friends he had the satisfaction of knowing that he held
them by his own qualities and that being nice
to him because he happened to be member of the dear
old class of 1914 which wasn't dear old at that time
and hasn't been either since.
| can no more get faint feeling of ownership
in Harvard than can stop hoping that the Pirates win
the National League championship-the Pirates were
my first "home team" But | have never understood
college spirit especially undergraduate class spirit and
the more see of it the less regret the fact that
never experienced it,
pIUIly OISd( ears
DR.. Conant look forward to thirty years during
which the world will change as it has never changed
before and during which he will be the head of domi-
nant center of learning it is inspiring and challenging
position for any The who left college with
him were we'll prepared to take advantage of world
in which a college education in itself sign of
advantage-and that world shot from under them by
the big in Flanders. The class of 1888 will have
be prepared for world of shifting sands for uncertain
ties for complicated problems than teachers
dreamed of telling about,
do not mean to run down my education. In 1912
so I heard about Freud and about Karl Marx in
regular classrooms. The whole humanst controversy
which broke up literary journals three years ago was
being discussed in 1913 by the who is still best able
to discuss it-Irving Babbtt. It my good luck to
meet two three inspiring teachers and great
Forgotten America
It is odd that my deepest grudge against my edu
cation is that it failed to give mature and complete
view of the history of my country (By mature and
complete l mean such history Charles and Mary
Boards "Rse of American Cvilzaton) 1t possible
(and suspect it still is possble to go through great
American college with knowledge of American
history than you got in the eighth grade of grammar
school. What is shocking is that of the
other cOurses-in art literature economics
science-required you to have anything in your
head about America than you had taken in when you
ten years old.
There courses in American history during my
time at HarvardI think the honored and witty Albert
Bushnell Hart still giving some-but that is not
enough You could escape those if you wanted
to-and escape learning the first essential things about
your country. I did, And got shock, later on
when I found out what America had been up to.