INTERNATIONAL HONOR

The writer of the following communication protests against the inconsistency of declaring that Harvard promotes international tolerance when many of her graduates have given their lives for the cause of the Allies. The idea of holding a service to commemorate the deeds of these men is nevertheless compatible with the University's spirit of non-partisanship.

The Harvard men who have died in the ranks of the French and English armies all spent a number of years at Harvard. They gained some intellectual training, perhaps, but more than that, they acquired ideals of service and traditions of bravery which peculiarly belong to Harvard. It was this early influence in part that sent them into the face of danger to defend what they personally considered a worthy and a righteous cause. It is not because these brave men made their sacrifices for either France or England that they should receive the respect of their alma mater, but because they showed the traditional bravery of Harvard men, by giving their very lives in defense of what they considered to be truth and justice.

If any graduates have served Germany in like manner, equal honor and respect are due them, and the University is no less eager to recognize their great work, and fittingly commemorate their deeds.

So Harvard still retains her right to be considered internationally tolerant, for it is the bravery of her graduates in the abstract that she is proud to honor. And she is no less international in feeling because she pays fitting tribute to courage and true devotion to ideals.