Unfit to Be Tied

Sixty young men of the Jenkins Township-Yatesville Borough Joint High School have struck a blow for freedom. They "remained away from classes," said the New York Times, "rather than wear neckties." We, who have maintained our right as responsible adults to attend classes open-necked, can say to our brethren of Jenkins Township and Yatesville Borough, "Courage! Hold the fort!"

But there is a disquieting note in the Times' dispatch. The brave lads of JT-YBJHS "failed," it seems, "...to bring about the general walkout that they had threatened." We can only deplore the spread of our national apathy even to those as yet too young to qualify as members of the Silent Generation.

We might remember, however, that though we have won our battle in the classrooms, we have lost it in the dining halls. We, too, must wear the knotted rag that is the vestige of our ancestors' attempts to guard against colds in the throat. Even regarded as a symbol of gentility, the compulsory necktie is an unwarranted imposition on those of us who are conscientiously ungenteel. Perhaps Harvard will some day experience among its students a revival of the zeal that characterized its founders. On that day we might remember the slogan promulgated by one of the Tom Paines of Jenkins Township-Yatesville Borough Joint: "We won't wear ties."