Evening star., 1942-12-20
Small Colleges Are Menaced !
By New Army>Navy Program
Concentration on Large Universities in Training
Plans Combines With Draft to- Threaten ,.
Finances of Small Plants
By FeHr Morley.

Ava V''ey' s1% So
graduates Of q neighboring college And
wherever the grass roots variety of ira.
dttional American democracy flourishes,
continuous irrigation from some nearby
Siwash readily can be detected.
There are, moreover, not few liberal
arts colleges especially In thetEast, small
in size not because they have been un-
able to aspire to physical growth but be-,
cause they have resolutely placed quail
ity ahead Of quantity. Their enrollments
have been Intentionally limited to around
500 or even less so that every student
might be handpicked and so that the
greatest care and encouragement might
be given to the development of each IN
dividual undergraduate.
From these select small colleges, many
OF them world famous, has come a very
high proportion of the men who have
risen to leadership in all phases of our
national life. The pages of Who's Who
are full of the biographies of alumni
from those institutions Of which it is still
true, as Daniel Webster said long ago Of
u
small college, but there are those who
love it,
Whether small from choice or from
necessity. the liberal arts college in the
United States is now face to face with
the prospect OF dissolution. And yet
there Is at hand simple and seemingly
valid formula whereby this character
istically American institution can bs
saved, not for its own sake but for that
Of the Nation 1t has served so well. 81
None Dispute War Claim.
None contest the valid claim Of the
armed services for college students, the
vast majority of whom are in any case
most eager to give all that may be de-
sired by their country. Few dispute the
clear reasoning which makes the Army
and Navy anxious to concentrate their
specialized training units in a few large
institutions. Certainly it is not the busi-
ness of the War and Navy Departments
to subsdize small colleges. 80.
Criticism concentrates on two other
points. First, the wastage involved in a
policy which will mean the disintegration
of scores of educational institutions at
present wholly competent to render valu-
able professional training of type es.
sential to the continued health and ad.
vancement of the Nation. Second, the
illogical desire of the War and Navy De-
partments to put every professional
trainee.ih uniform, regardless of whether
he can lie most effective as a soldier, In
civil administration or in industry. ~.
q Tens Of thousands of men Of military
age are now being deferred by selective
service for work in shipyards. airplane
factories 4nd on farms. A few thousands,
all told less than per cent of the Array
and Navy which is planned. could with
at least equal validity be assigned for
continued professional training at Sc
lected colleges which otherwise may have
to close their doors.
Scientific Workers Needed.
Such procedure would insure the con-
tinuous flow Of that minimum Of pro-
fessional and scientific workers essen
tial to maintain national strength and
vitality 1t would insure the continued
utilization Of college personnel and plant
which can be employed at maximum ef-
ficiency only for professional training.
And 1t would mean wholly negligible
diminutien of the supply of manpower
for necessary combat purposes.
The principal argument against such
q plan Is that it would be undemocratic
to exempt from military service boys
able to pay college fees, while drafting
others Of equal ability who have no
means to obtain higher education.
The point is wholly valid. But 1t can be
met by insisting first that the deferred
professional trainee must have q high
intellectual and character potential, and,
second, that scholarship funds, plus such
Government aid as may be desirable. be
employed in behalf of the bright boys in
public high schools for whom economic
problems have heretofore In many cases
blocked professional training. And 1t
goes without saying that any draft de-
ferment for continued education would
be coupled with definite obligation to
serve thes Government, on completion OF
training and perhaps part-time during
training, wherever the students services
might be needed.
Opportunities at Hand.
Continued professional training, through
the medium Of the liberal arts colleges
we'll qualified to serve that function.
is actually vital though specialized part
of the whole manpower problem. AS
such it could not effectively be handled
until the War Manpower Commission
and the Selective Service System were CO.
ordinated. Now that this is accom-
plished the opportunity to use the small
colleges constructively is at hand.
Let those institutions which meet ex-
acting professional standards be certified
as accredited agencies of the Manpower
Commission for certain indispensable
types of highly accelerated training. Let
the Army and Navy then decide the
number Of men who can be Professionally
deferred for such training. Then let
this quota be÷d among the colleges
selected as responsible agencies, under
such supervision and conditions as the
War Manpower Commission may deem
desirable to establish.
There is no doubt that the small col
leges would rise effectively to the re-
sponsibilities involved. And there Is no
doubt that. in total war, the maintenance
Of a minimum civilian economy Is a.
important as the mobilization Of vast
army which is useless unless adequately
supported by technical skills on the do
mestic front. 4
To overlook the service which, in the
aGrrerate the liberal nrts colleeee 80,