Commuters Question Future of Dudley

Twenty-five years ago Dudley pened as the College's non-resient student center. Two years ago udley became the eighth House, nd Delmar Leighton '19 resigned Dean of the College and became Master. Despite the improvements in Dudley facilities over the ears -- especially since Master eighton took office -- the basic roblem of fitting a non-residential roup into a residentially oriented nvironment still perplexes the Administration.

At the same time that the Program for Harvard College proposes new building for Dudley members, three-fourths of whom are comuters, the Admissions Office has een accepting far fewer students rom the Greater Boston area. The umber of non-residents has dropd by 60 during each of the past years. Yet the number of students residing in the State of Masachusetts has remained relatively able during the past five years. he recent decline in students from he local area cannot be correlated with Harvard's effort to become a ational college.

If the present trend is not reersed in the next few years, not ly will the commuter almost disppear, but Harvard will be in danr of losing contact with the mmunity -- with Cambridge and oston. The importance of strong es with the locality cannot be eremphasized, esepcially in matrs concerning expansion and the nduct of students in the college ea. At present only two members the City Council are Harvard aduates (Joseph A. DeGuglielmo and Mayor Edward A. Crane ); the number of Harvard-conected members of the State Legisture has dropped from 55 per cent 1929 to 20 per cent in 1959.

Local Support Needed

That the University needs more pport from local government is ident from the recent "stills" ntroversy, when few local officials ood by the University in its oppotion to the office building. Educat potential community leaders great feedback value: For exple, Brown-Providence relations happy precisely because so any of the town's influential citi are Brown alumni. Moreover, arvard University has a responsity to the city, especially since it to ignore the benefits it reap from a progressive urban ewal policy. If Harvard wants city to back its bid to buy the A lots when all University land is tax-exempt, it should a more intelligent attitude toward educating local students.

Alumni comb mid-West states for Dean Monro's "barefoot farm boys," but the University makes no real talent search for qualified students from the greater Boston area. Applications from local high schools have even fallen off slightly. Lack of interest in attracting local studen can in part be traced to the Administration's apparent opinion that commuters are "second-class citizens," deprived of the educational benefits of dorm life. Certainly this was true when President Pusey took office in 1953. A study made by the Office of Tests reveals that '52 commuters felt a real isolation from the resident students, referred to by some as "those Ivy Leaguers." The traditional view has been that commuters miss out on the midnight House bull sessions; that they cannot participate in athletics and extra-curricular activities; and that they are poorer scholars than resident students.

But this is simply not true today. A '58 graduate now at the Law School participated both in the Glee Club and on the Student Council, and was not at all an "angry young commuter." Present-day commuters complain not about Dudley facilities or time spent on the MTA but about the University's policy of accepting fewer local students (which "discourages commuters"), and of Harvard's vacillation in choosing a new site for Dudley.

Dudley men do participate in House athletics and feel they miss little by leaving the College at 11 p.m. Commuters say they know more members of Dudley than resident students do of their own Houses, which one sophomore compared to New York City apartment-houses--"where you meet the guy next door only by accident at a Christmas party on the floor below." Two members of the House Committee who visited Brown last month called its facilities 20 years behind Harvard's. And a study by Master Leighton reveals that while Greater Bostonians do slightly poorer than the student body as a whole, the grade differences are insignificant.

Master Leighton himself disagrees with those who think that the "presence of beds is the essential thing" in organizing House life for educational purposes. "The time spent on the MTA or looking for parking places," the Master said, "is not such a disadvantage that it cannot be overcome by other advantages more than adequate. Moreover, it is unfair to discriminate against a local boy if he wants to live at home. It should not be the aim of the College to take selected young manhood away from parents."

Emphasizing that "the success of a residential House system requires one unit not completely residential," Leighton pictures Harvard's goal as "a House system flexible enough to allow students to move in or out without having to adjust to an entirely new environment. It is the University's responsibility to offer those fortunate enough to be able to enjoy the simultaneous benefits of home life and education, a part in a college community which is mainly residential."

Future Indefinite

All that's certain about Dudley House's future is that the present facilities at 16 Dunster St. will be torn down within three years to make way for the rest of the new Medical Center. Four possibilities are being considered. Dudley might take over Lehman Hall when the Bursar's office moves into the top floors of the Health Center Building. Or Dudley House might move into Claverly; this suggestion, reportedly favored by Master Leighton, would seem to hinge on the construction of the tenth House to accommodate extra residential students.

The Program for Harvard College asked $1 million for a new commuter's House, but only $370,000 was pledged. A third plan would place the building at the corner of Plympton St., across Mount Auburn St. from the Lampoon building (on property next to the Fly Club). Finally, Dudley might combine with the tenth House, which would be named Dudley House.

The crucial question concerning the last suggestion would be the ratio of commuting to residential students. Administration feeling favors a 50-50 ratio, but this would drastically slash the number of commuters from the present 304 to approximately 200. Furthermore, just how such a House would be organized is not at all clear. Regarding the other three proposals, Master Leighton emphasizes that with any further cut in the number of commuters, Dudley would be too small to support its own tutorial program and could not participate in athletic events on an equal basis the the other Houses.

Pusey Gives Hope

But some hope for the commuters came at the Dudley Founding Fathers Dinner, April 19. At the dinner President Pusey declared that Harvard has "gone far enough, perhaps too far" in its efforts to attract students from other states. "I nearly leapt out of my chair," Leighton commented on Pusey's remark. "This is what Dudley has been waiting to hear." The University's effort to become a national institution began in 1933 under President Conant and resulted in the percentage of Massachusetts students per class dropping from 55.1 per cent for '29 to 21.3 per cent for '63.

In addition, the report on Admissions issued in February 1960 by a Faculty committee viewed the decline of Greater Boston applicants with some alarm: "We are well on the way to losing touch with our own community. . . . This is a development which no university, public or private, can view with equanimity. It is especially disheartening in our case; for it is not too much to say that Harvard owes much of its distinctive quality and prestige to a relation with Boston which is unmatched, as between any other American private university and 'its' city."

Pointing out that "Harvard has had greater success in attracting top-notch applicants from elsewhere in America than in letting its neighbors know what it is looking for and what it has to offer," the committee recommended: "A continuing effort should be made to attract qualified applicants from Boston and its suburbs, but there should be no relaxation of standards in favor of such applicants."

Yet President Pusey made no definite promise that more commuters will be accepted. The Administration has not yet decided on the site for the new Dudley House, nor whether Dudley should become more like the residential Houses or maintain its individuality. University officials are still half-convinced that the commuter is cheated out of some educational advantage that the residential student enjoys. The time has come to make decisions, and the University must decide quickly what it wants to about commuters.DELMAR LEIGHTON

At the same time that the Program for Harvard College proposes new building for Dudley members, three-fourths of whom are comuters, the Admissions Office has een accepting far fewer students rom the Greater Boston area. The umber of non-residents has dropd by 60 during each of the past years. Yet the number of students residing in the State of Masachusetts has remained relatively able during the past five years. he recent decline in students from he local area cannot be correlated with Harvard's effort to become a ational college.

If the present trend is not reersed in the next few years, not ly will the commuter almost disppear, but Harvard will be in danr of losing contact with the mmunity -- with Cambridge and oston. The importance of strong es with the locality cannot be eremphasized, esepcially in matrs concerning expansion and the nduct of students in the college ea. At present only two members the City Council are Harvard aduates (Joseph A. DeGuglielmo and Mayor Edward A. Crane ); the number of Harvard-conected members of the State Legisture has dropped from 55 per cent 1929 to 20 per cent in 1959.

Local Support Needed

That the University needs more pport from local government is ident from the recent "stills" ntroversy, when few local officials ood by the University in its oppotion to the office building. Educat potential community leaders great feedback value: For exple, Brown-Providence relations happy precisely because so any of the town's influential citi are Brown alumni. Moreover, arvard University has a responsity to the city, especially since it to ignore the benefits it reap from a progressive urban ewal policy. If Harvard wants city to back its bid to buy the A lots when all University land is tax-exempt, it should a more intelligent attitude toward educating local students.

Alumni comb mid-West states for Dean Monro's "barefoot farm boys," but the University makes no real talent search for qualified students from the greater Boston area. Applications from local high schools have even fallen off slightly. Lack of interest in attracting local studen can in part be traced to the Administration's apparent opinion that commuters are "second-class citizens," deprived of the educational benefits of dorm life. Certainly this was true when President Pusey took office in 1953. A study made by the Office of Tests reveals that '52 commuters felt a real isolation from the resident students, referred to by some as "those Ivy Leaguers." The traditional view has been that commuters miss out on the midnight House bull sessions; that they cannot participate in athletics and extra-curricular activities; and that they are poorer scholars than resident students.

But this is simply not true today. A '58 graduate now at the Law School participated both in the Glee Club and on the Student Council, and was not at all an "angry young commuter." Present-day commuters complain not about Dudley facilities or time spent on the MTA but about the University's policy of accepting fewer local students (which "discourages commuters"), and of Harvard's vacillation in choosing a new site for Dudley.

Dudley men do participate in House athletics and feel they miss little by leaving the College at 11 p.m. Commuters say they know more members of Dudley than resident students do of their own Houses, which one sophomore compared to New York City apartment-houses--"where you meet the guy next door only by accident at a Christmas party on the floor below." Two members of the House Committee who visited Brown last month called its facilities 20 years behind Harvard's. And a study by Master Leighton reveals that while Greater Bostonians do slightly poorer than the student body as a whole, the grade differences are insignificant.

Master Leighton himself disagrees with those who think that the "presence of beds is the essential thing" in organizing House life for educational purposes. "The time spent on the MTA or looking for parking places," the Master said, "is not such a disadvantage that it cannot be overcome by other advantages more than adequate. Moreover, it is unfair to discriminate against a local boy if he wants to live at home. It should not be the aim of the College to take selected young manhood away from parents."

Emphasizing that "the success of a residential House system requires one unit not completely residential," Leighton pictures Harvard's goal as "a House system flexible enough to allow students to move in or out without having to adjust to an entirely new environment. It is the University's responsibility to offer those fortunate enough to be able to enjoy the simultaneous benefits of home life and education, a part in a college community which is mainly residential."

Future Indefinite

All that's certain about Dudley House's future is that the present facilities at 16 Dunster St. will be torn down within three years to make way for the rest of the new Medical Center. Four possibilities are being considered. Dudley might take over Lehman Hall when the Bursar's office moves into the top floors of the Health Center Building. Or Dudley House might move into Claverly; this suggestion, reportedly favored by Master Leighton, would seem to hinge on the construction of the tenth House to accommodate extra residential students.

The Program for Harvard College asked $1 million for a new commuter's House, but only $370,000 was pledged. A third plan would place the building at the corner of Plympton St., across Mount Auburn St. from the Lampoon building (on property next to the Fly Club). Finally, Dudley might combine with the tenth House, which would be named Dudley House.

The crucial question concerning the last suggestion would be the ratio of commuting to residential students. Administration feeling favors a 50-50 ratio, but this would drastically slash the number of commuters from the present 304 to approximately 200. Furthermore, just how such a House would be organized is not at all clear. Regarding the other three proposals, Master Leighton emphasizes that with any further cut in the number of commuters, Dudley would be too small to support its own tutorial program and could not participate in athletic events on an equal basis the the other Houses.

Pusey Gives Hope

But some hope for the commuters came at the Dudley Founding Fathers Dinner, April 19. At the dinner President Pusey declared that Harvard has "gone far enough, perhaps too far" in its efforts to attract students from other states. "I nearly leapt out of my chair," Leighton commented on Pusey's remark. "This is what Dudley has been waiting to hear." The University's effort to become a national institution began in 1933 under President Conant and resulted in the percentage of Massachusetts students per class dropping from 55.1 per cent for '29 to 21.3 per cent for '63.

In addition, the report on Admissions issued in February 1960 by a Faculty committee viewed the decline of Greater Boston applicants with some alarm: "We are well on the way to losing touch with our own community. . . . This is a development which no university, public or private, can view with equanimity. It is especially disheartening in our case; for it is not too much to say that Harvard owes much of its distinctive quality and prestige to a relation with Boston which is unmatched, as between any other American private university and 'its' city."

Pointing out that "Harvard has had greater success in attracting top-notch applicants from elsewhere in America than in letting its neighbors know what it is looking for and what it has to offer," the committee recommended: "A continuing effort should be made to attract qualified applicants from Boston and its suburbs, but there should be no relaxation of standards in favor of such applicants."

Yet President Pusey made no definite promise that more commuters will be accepted. The Administration has not yet decided on the site for the new Dudley House, nor whether Dudley should become more like the residential Houses or maintain its individuality. University officials are still half-convinced that the commuter is cheated out of some educational advantage that the residential student enjoys. The time has come to make decisions, and the University must decide quickly what it wants to about commuters.DELMAR LEIGHTON

If the present trend is not reersed in the next few years, not ly will the commuter almost disppear, but Harvard will be in danr of losing contact with the mmunity -- with Cambridge and oston. The importance of strong es with the locality cannot be eremphasized, esepcially in matrs concerning expansion and the nduct of students in the college ea. At present only two members the City Council are Harvard aduates (Joseph A. DeGuglielmo and Mayor Edward A. Crane ); the number of Harvard-conected members of the State Legisture has dropped from 55 per cent 1929 to 20 per cent in 1959.

Local Support Needed

That the University needs more pport from local government is ident from the recent "stills" ntroversy, when few local officials ood by the University in its oppotion to the office building. Educat potential community leaders great feedback value: For exple, Brown-Providence relations happy precisely because so any of the town's influential citi are Brown alumni. Moreover, arvard University has a responsity to the city, especially since it to ignore the benefits it reap from a progressive urban ewal policy. If Harvard wants city to back its bid to buy the A lots when all University land is tax-exempt, it should a more intelligent attitude toward educating local students.

Alumni comb mid-West states for Dean Monro's "barefoot farm boys," but the University makes no real talent search for qualified students from the greater Boston area. Applications from local high schools have even fallen off slightly. Lack of interest in attracting local studen can in part be traced to the Administration's apparent opinion that commuters are "second-class citizens," deprived of the educational benefits of dorm life. Certainly this was true when President Pusey took office in 1953. A study made by the Office of Tests reveals that '52 commuters felt a real isolation from the resident students, referred to by some as "those Ivy Leaguers." The traditional view has been that commuters miss out on the midnight House bull sessions; that they cannot participate in athletics and extra-curricular activities; and that they are poorer scholars than resident students.

But this is simply not true today. A '58 graduate now at the Law School participated both in the Glee Club and on the Student Council, and was not at all an "angry young commuter." Present-day commuters complain not about Dudley facilities or time spent on the MTA but about the University's policy of accepting fewer local students (which "discourages commuters"), and of Harvard's vacillation in choosing a new site for Dudley.

Dudley men do participate in House athletics and feel they miss little by leaving the College at 11 p.m. Commuters say they know more members of Dudley than resident students do of their own Houses, which one sophomore compared to New York City apartment-houses--"where you meet the guy next door only by accident at a Christmas party on the floor below." Two members of the House Committee who visited Brown last month called its facilities 20 years behind Harvard's. And a study by Master Leighton reveals that while Greater Bostonians do slightly poorer than the student body as a whole, the grade differences are insignificant.

Master Leighton himself disagrees with those who think that the "presence of beds is the essential thing" in organizing House life for educational purposes. "The time spent on the MTA or looking for parking places," the Master said, "is not such a disadvantage that it cannot be overcome by other advantages more than adequate. Moreover, it is unfair to discriminate against a local boy if he wants to live at home. It should not be the aim of the College to take selected young manhood away from parents."

Emphasizing that "the success of a residential House system requires one unit not completely residential," Leighton pictures Harvard's goal as "a House system flexible enough to allow students to move in or out without having to adjust to an entirely new environment. It is the University's responsibility to offer those fortunate enough to be able to enjoy the simultaneous benefits of home life and education, a part in a college community which is mainly residential."

Future Indefinite

All that's certain about Dudley House's future is that the present facilities at 16 Dunster St. will be torn down within three years to make way for the rest of the new Medical Center. Four possibilities are being considered. Dudley might take over Lehman Hall when the Bursar's office moves into the top floors of the Health Center Building. Or Dudley House might move into Claverly; this suggestion, reportedly favored by Master Leighton, would seem to hinge on the construction of the tenth House to accommodate extra residential students.

The Program for Harvard College asked $1 million for a new commuter's House, but only $370,000 was pledged. A third plan would place the building at the corner of Plympton St., across Mount Auburn St. from the Lampoon building (on property next to the Fly Club). Finally, Dudley might combine with the tenth House, which would be named Dudley House.

The crucial question concerning the last suggestion would be the ratio of commuting to residential students. Administration feeling favors a 50-50 ratio, but this would drastically slash the number of commuters from the present 304 to approximately 200. Furthermore, just how such a House would be organized is not at all clear. Regarding the other three proposals, Master Leighton emphasizes that with any further cut in the number of commuters, Dudley would be too small to support its own tutorial program and could not participate in athletic events on an equal basis the the other Houses.

Pusey Gives Hope

But some hope for the commuters came at the Dudley Founding Fathers Dinner, April 19. At the dinner President Pusey declared that Harvard has "gone far enough, perhaps too far" in its efforts to attract students from other states. "I nearly leapt out of my chair," Leighton commented on Pusey's remark. "This is what Dudley has been waiting to hear." The University's effort to become a national institution began in 1933 under President Conant and resulted in the percentage of Massachusetts students per class dropping from 55.1 per cent for '29 to 21.3 per cent for '63.

In addition, the report on Admissions issued in February 1960 by a Faculty committee viewed the decline of Greater Boston applicants with some alarm: "We are well on the way to losing touch with our own community. . . . This is a development which no university, public or private, can view with equanimity. It is especially disheartening in our case; for it is not too much to say that Harvard owes much of its distinctive quality and prestige to a relation with Boston which is unmatched, as between any other American private university and 'its' city."

Pointing out that "Harvard has had greater success in attracting top-notch applicants from elsewhere in America than in letting its neighbors know what it is looking for and what it has to offer," the committee recommended: "A continuing effort should be made to attract qualified applicants from Boston and its suburbs, but there should be no relaxation of standards in favor of such applicants."

Yet President Pusey made no definite promise that more commuters will be accepted. The Administration has not yet decided on the site for the new Dudley House, nor whether Dudley should become more like the residential Houses or maintain its individuality. University officials are still half-convinced that the commuter is cheated out of some educational advantage that the residential student enjoys. The time has come to make decisions, and the University must decide quickly what it wants to about commuters.DELMAR LEIGHTON

Local Support Needed

That the University needs more pport from local government is ident from the recent "stills" ntroversy, when few local officials ood by the University in its oppotion to the office building. Educat potential community leaders great feedback value: For exple, Brown-Providence relations happy precisely because so any of the town's influential citi are Brown alumni. Moreover, arvard University has a responsity to the city, especially since it to ignore the benefits it reap from a progressive urban ewal policy. If Harvard wants city to back its bid to buy the A lots when all University land is tax-exempt, it should a more intelligent attitude toward educating local students.

Alumni comb mid-West states for Dean Monro's "barefoot farm boys," but the University makes no real talent search for qualified students from the greater Boston area. Applications from local high schools have even fallen off slightly. Lack of interest in attracting local studen can in part be traced to the Administration's apparent opinion that commuters are "second-class citizens," deprived of the educational benefits of dorm life. Certainly this was true when President Pusey took office in 1953. A study made by the Office of Tests reveals that '52 commuters felt a real isolation from the resident students, referred to by some as "those Ivy Leaguers." The traditional view has been that commuters miss out on the midnight House bull sessions; that they cannot participate in athletics and extra-curricular activities; and that they are poorer scholars than resident students.

But this is simply not true today. A '58 graduate now at the Law School participated both in the Glee Club and on the Student Council, and was not at all an "angry young commuter." Present-day commuters complain not about Dudley facilities or time spent on the MTA but about the University's policy of accepting fewer local students (which "discourages commuters"), and of Harvard's vacillation in choosing a new site for Dudley.

Dudley men do participate in House athletics and feel they miss little by leaving the College at 11 p.m. Commuters say they know more members of Dudley than resident students do of their own Houses, which one sophomore compared to New York City apartment-houses--"where you meet the guy next door only by accident at a Christmas party on the floor below." Two members of the House Committee who visited Brown last month called its facilities 20 years behind Harvard's. And a study by Master Leighton reveals that while Greater Bostonians do slightly poorer than the student body as a whole, the grade differences are insignificant.

Master Leighton himself disagrees with those who think that the "presence of beds is the essential thing" in organizing House life for educational purposes. "The time spent on the MTA or looking for parking places," the Master said, "is not such a disadvantage that it cannot be overcome by other advantages more than adequate. Moreover, it is unfair to discriminate against a local boy if he wants to live at home. It should not be the aim of the College to take selected young manhood away from parents."

Emphasizing that "the success of a residential House system requires one unit not completely residential," Leighton pictures Harvard's goal as "a House system flexible enough to allow students to move in or out without having to adjust to an entirely new environment. It is the University's responsibility to offer those fortunate enough to be able to enjoy the simultaneous benefits of home life and education, a part in a college community which is mainly residential."

Future Indefinite

All that's certain about Dudley House's future is that the present facilities at 16 Dunster St. will be torn down within three years to make way for the rest of the new Medical Center. Four possibilities are being considered. Dudley might take over Lehman Hall when the Bursar's office moves into the top floors of the Health Center Building. Or Dudley House might move into Claverly; this suggestion, reportedly favored by Master Leighton, would seem to hinge on the construction of the tenth House to accommodate extra residential students.

The Program for Harvard College asked $1 million for a new commuter's House, but only $370,000 was pledged. A third plan would place the building at the corner of Plympton St., across Mount Auburn St. from the Lampoon building (on property next to the Fly Club). Finally, Dudley might combine with the tenth House, which would be named Dudley House.

The crucial question concerning the last suggestion would be the ratio of commuting to residential students. Administration feeling favors a 50-50 ratio, but this would drastically slash the number of commuters from the present 304 to approximately 200. Furthermore, just how such a House would be organized is not at all clear. Regarding the other three proposals, Master Leighton emphasizes that with any further cut in the number of commuters, Dudley would be too small to support its own tutorial program and could not participate in athletic events on an equal basis the the other Houses.

Pusey Gives Hope

But some hope for the commuters came at the Dudley Founding Fathers Dinner, April 19. At the dinner President Pusey declared that Harvard has "gone far enough, perhaps too far" in its efforts to attract students from other states. "I nearly leapt out of my chair," Leighton commented on Pusey's remark. "This is what Dudley has been waiting to hear." The University's effort to become a national institution began in 1933 under President Conant and resulted in the percentage of Massachusetts students per class dropping from 55.1 per cent for '29 to 21.3 per cent for '63.

In addition, the report on Admissions issued in February 1960 by a Faculty committee viewed the decline of Greater Boston applicants with some alarm: "We are well on the way to losing touch with our own community. . . . This is a development which no university, public or private, can view with equanimity. It is especially disheartening in our case; for it is not too much to say that Harvard owes much of its distinctive quality and prestige to a relation with Boston which is unmatched, as between any other American private university and 'its' city."

Pointing out that "Harvard has had greater success in attracting top-notch applicants from elsewhere in America than in letting its neighbors know what it is looking for and what it has to offer," the committee recommended: "A continuing effort should be made to attract qualified applicants from Boston and its suburbs, but there should be no relaxation of standards in favor of such applicants."

Yet President Pusey made no definite promise that more commuters will be accepted. The Administration has not yet decided on the site for the new Dudley House, nor whether Dudley should become more like the residential Houses or maintain its individuality. University officials are still half-convinced that the commuter is cheated out of some educational advantage that the residential student enjoys. The time has come to make decisions, and the University must decide quickly what it wants to about commuters.DELMAR LEIGHTON

Alumni comb mid-West states for Dean Monro's "barefoot farm boys," but the University makes no real talent search for qualified students from the greater Boston area. Applications from local high schools have even fallen off slightly. Lack of interest in attracting local studen can in part be traced to the Administration's apparent opinion that commuters are "second-class citizens," deprived of the educational benefits of dorm life. Certainly this was true when President Pusey took office in 1953. A study made by the Office of Tests reveals that '52 commuters felt a real isolation from the resident students, referred to by some as "those Ivy Leaguers." The traditional view has been that commuters miss out on the midnight House bull sessions; that they cannot participate in athletics and extra-curricular activities; and that they are poorer scholars than resident students.

But this is simply not true today. A '58 graduate now at the Law School participated both in the Glee Club and on the Student Council, and was not at all an "angry young commuter." Present-day commuters complain not about Dudley facilities or time spent on the MTA but about the University's policy of accepting fewer local students (which "discourages commuters"), and of Harvard's vacillation in choosing a new site for Dudley.

Dudley men do participate in House athletics and feel they miss little by leaving the College at 11 p.m. Commuters say they know more members of Dudley than resident students do of their own Houses, which one sophomore compared to New York City apartment-houses--"where you meet the guy next door only by accident at a Christmas party on the floor below." Two members of the House Committee who visited Brown last month called its facilities 20 years behind Harvard's. And a study by Master Leighton reveals that while Greater Bostonians do slightly poorer than the student body as a whole, the grade differences are insignificant.

Master Leighton himself disagrees with those who think that the "presence of beds is the essential thing" in organizing House life for educational purposes. "The time spent on the MTA or looking for parking places," the Master said, "is not such a disadvantage that it cannot be overcome by other advantages more than adequate. Moreover, it is unfair to discriminate against a local boy if he wants to live at home. It should not be the aim of the College to take selected young manhood away from parents."

Emphasizing that "the success of a residential House system requires one unit not completely residential," Leighton pictures Harvard's goal as "a House system flexible enough to allow students to move in or out without having to adjust to an entirely new environment. It is the University's responsibility to offer those fortunate enough to be able to enjoy the simultaneous benefits of home life and education, a part in a college community which is mainly residential."

Future Indefinite

All that's certain about Dudley House's future is that the present facilities at 16 Dunster St. will be torn down within three years to make way for the rest of the new Medical Center. Four possibilities are being considered. Dudley might take over Lehman Hall when the Bursar's office moves into the top floors of the Health Center Building. Or Dudley House might move into Claverly; this suggestion, reportedly favored by Master Leighton, would seem to hinge on the construction of the tenth House to accommodate extra residential students.

The Program for Harvard College asked $1 million for a new commuter's House, but only $370,000 was pledged. A third plan would place the building at the corner of Plympton St., across Mount Auburn St. from the Lampoon building (on property next to the Fly Club). Finally, Dudley might combine with the tenth House, which would be named Dudley House.

The crucial question concerning the last suggestion would be the ratio of commuting to residential students. Administration feeling favors a 50-50 ratio, but this would drastically slash the number of commuters from the present 304 to approximately 200. Furthermore, just how such a House would be organized is not at all clear. Regarding the other three proposals, Master Leighton emphasizes that with any further cut in the number of commuters, Dudley would be too small to support its own tutorial program and could not participate in athletic events on an equal basis the the other Houses.

Pusey Gives Hope

But some hope for the commuters came at the Dudley Founding Fathers Dinner, April 19. At the dinner President Pusey declared that Harvard has "gone far enough, perhaps too far" in its efforts to attract students from other states. "I nearly leapt out of my chair," Leighton commented on Pusey's remark. "This is what Dudley has been waiting to hear." The University's effort to become a national institution began in 1933 under President Conant and resulted in the percentage of Massachusetts students per class dropping from 55.1 per cent for '29 to 21.3 per cent for '63.

In addition, the report on Admissions issued in February 1960 by a Faculty committee viewed the decline of Greater Boston applicants with some alarm: "We are well on the way to losing touch with our own community. . . . This is a development which no university, public or private, can view with equanimity. It is especially disheartening in our case; for it is not too much to say that Harvard owes much of its distinctive quality and prestige to a relation with Boston which is unmatched, as between any other American private university and 'its' city."

Pointing out that "Harvard has had greater success in attracting top-notch applicants from elsewhere in America than in letting its neighbors know what it is looking for and what it has to offer," the committee recommended: "A continuing effort should be made to attract qualified applicants from Boston and its suburbs, but there should be no relaxation of standards in favor of such applicants."

Yet President Pusey made no definite promise that more commuters will be accepted. The Administration has not yet decided on the site for the new Dudley House, nor whether Dudley should become more like the residential Houses or maintain its individuality. University officials are still half-convinced that the commuter is cheated out of some educational advantage that the residential student enjoys. The time has come to make decisions, and the University must decide quickly what it wants to about commuters.DELMAR LEIGHTON