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"Some measure of control over the policies of a college should be external," declared Professor Gilbert Murray last night. The visiting classicist, from Oxford, who holds the Charles Eliot Norton Chair of Poetry at the University and who will give his second lecture of the year at 8 o'clock tonight in Sanders Theatre on "The Molpe," made this reply when asked by a CRIMSON reporter for his opinion as to whether a college should be entirely self-governing.
"Any group that is too self-centered in its government is faulty in its constitution," he continued. "Most entirely is this true of a college or university. I believe that these institutions should form an integral part of the national life, and not be, as some pretend, mere aristocracies of learning.
Business Men Needed.
"Most colleges here in America have on their governing boards alumni who are prominent business men. This interest of the business men in the college, and the need the college has of occasionally looking to the business men for advice and aid is a guarantee of advancement. Too often has the world of commerce scorned the colleges, as institutions dealing largely in theories, and its creators of intellectual snobs. Too often have the colleges, in turn, looked upon the business men as materialistic moneygrubbers. But with the coming of enlightened men of business as powers in the affairs of the universities, an understanding beneficial to both sides is in sight.
"Although Oxford and Cambridge cling to the old rule by the Fellows, a plan similar to the American idea is in execution in all the modern English and Scotch universities, where leading citizens of the college towns are powers in the University Court, as the governing bodies are called. Because of this sense of authority in the part of the townspeople they take a greater interest in the college than they would otherwise be and the College becomes a real part of the life of the town.
"Of course, in such an arrangement, a happy balance must be maintained. Neither party should gain too great an ascendancy, and the utmost fact should be observed in all their dealings with each other.
ness men who are able to aid the colleges, "He had a deep loye for his col lege and he helped his college in many ways in token of that love.
Self-Criticism is Good
Commenting upon the intellectual condition of America at the present time, Prof. Murray spoke of the wave of self-criticism that is sweeping over the country. "This self-criticism, ranging from the diatribes of Mencken to the bickerings of mean backbiters, is an encouraging sign of advancement. Dissatisfaction with self is always an indication of development, and it is a sign of health for a nation to be able to stand the withering fire of criticism that both England and America are at present undergoing at the hands of their own people. Only the other day I heard one of your own professors, speaking of the University, say. "One of the worst features of this wretched place is......". For the moment, I though I was in England again. That is exactly the talk one hears at Oxford. It is perhaps less violent in England than here, because the English are not as vehement by temperament as the Americans, but it is present, and I think it bodes well for the future."
Pays Tribute to Norton
Finally, Professor Murray spoke of his occupancy of the Poetry Chair, paying high tribute to Charles Eliot Norton, few whom the chair is named "Professor Norton had the spark of true inspiration." He declared, "I had the pleasure of meeting him, distinguished and courteous with a taste that was classical to an exquisite degree. He had a love for things that did not follow the fashion. It is most fitting that his memory should be honored in the gift dedicated to the attempt to bring home to others the eternal beauty upon which his own eyes were always fixed.
"I very keenly feel my responsibilities in endeavoring to interpret poetry as Charles Eliot Norton conceived of it. By poetry he meant the spirit present in art, in music, and in all life; not quite out of the sight, not quite out of earshot, but unheard amid the way of the would and the grinding of our own egotisms.
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