Finley Comments on Dual Purpose Of College Curriculum for Students

John H. Finley, Jr. '25, Master of Eliot House, opened a NSA conference on academic freedom last night by neatly dividing college students into two categories: those for whom the curriculum is "functional" and those for whom it isn't.

Students who find the academic work of the university most useful are those headed for specialized fields--the future experts of the society, the Oppenheimers. The other major student group doesn't take the curriculum seriously, and generally is composed of the future leaders, the "team players," the Kennedys.

The different needs of both groups cause most of the conflicts at a university like Harvard, Finley suggested. Nonetheless, he firmly maintained that "each group has something to learn from the other," and that the university must not become over-oriented towards either.

The split in purposes in American higher education stems, Finley proposed, from the dual European inheritance. English colleges provided the background of the university as a training ground for the future leader, while the Continental institutions added the idea that colleges should primarily be concerned with the professional expert.

The blend of the two traditions in America has resulted "in the greatest hybrid ever seen," Finley told his NSA audience.

Expressing doubts about the wisdom of increased specialization, Finley warned that it is getting harder for students "to keep an individual identity," particularly those students from the suburbs. Finley likened suburbs to "Indian reservations" in their shelteredness from the "working world."

The Eliot Master attributed the numerous college dropouts by obviously capable students to the specialization pressures and the anonymous, uniform process of college education. "I sometimes think President Pusey should put a 'Sunkist' stamp or something like that on all seniors to signify they've been properly processed."

Decrying the speed of modern education in general, Finley noted a student can fly to Harvard from California in four hours, but that the "soul comes in later like a beagle." All in all, these conflicting pressures make "Harvard complete chaos," Finley affirmed.

Today, the NSA delegates will hear Dean Monro and others comment on the college's role as a parent and the role of the university in national security, and other topics.