Perennial

Now the winter is over and gone, spring doth appear, and the annual protests are heard in the land. This year, as every year, lots of freshmen will think about concentrating in English. This year, as every year, many of these freshmen will stumble over the Latin-Greek ruling of the English Department and scurry off into other fields. Unless their pre-college training has given them a reading knowledge of Latin or Greek, honors candidates in English must spend time in those subjects.

The Latin-Greek requirement dates from the days when a college education meant a study of the classics. The College dropped its Latin requirement three years ago, and an increasing number of freshmen are coming from high schools which offer little Latin and less Greek.

The English Department feels a knowledge of Latin or Greek is necessary to an understanding of many English writers, particularly early ones. There are may subjects, however, which are just as necessary to an understanding of English literature as the classics. English concentrators who plan research in ancient periods will naturally learn Greek and Latin. Those studying modern periods will find related fields of history and modern languages more profitable and more palatable than a study of the classics. The English Department welcomes a modern language. but insists on the ancient ones. Now cometh the time for a change.