INVENTORY

The appearance of the President's Report is always the signal for a momentary halt in the academic whirl, when old values and traditions are weighed, new ideas discussed, and approved or rejected. In his report Mr. Lowell, speaking of the Graduate School of the Arts and Sciences, said that "the glory of a university is the enticement and production of scholars destined to be eminent in their fields." To better secure this end he suggested to the Governing Boards that a Society of Fellows be established, composed of brilliant young men, for the purpose of furthering an atmosphere of intellectual contagion. At the present moment there is no doubt that the Graduate School needs to be stimulated intellectually both in a higher degree and in a different manner than formerly which the proposed Society promises to do. But here, as in every department of the University, the dangers of undue emphasis on that which is purely scholastic and intellectually limited must be avoided.

Harvard has built up a scholastic tradition of pretty rigid structure, which has demanded that its teachers fulfill certain requirements. A Doctor's Degree, a published book, and a scholars' aptitude have been generally favored over the natural teaching gift, and the less recherche but more vigorous and personal contact. With the undergraduate, course requirements, and examinations have formed the frame-work of the curriculum. The tutorial system, the loosening of examination requirements, course reduction for honors men, and increasing emphasis on the thesis, however, have modified the academic rigor. The importance of the actual amassing of knowledge has some times not been recognized by modern educators, but they were right in revolting from the old school of learning for its own sake.

At this convenient respite for thought, provided by the President's annual analysis of the functioning of the University and outline for its future, it is well to consider whether Harvard offers a live or a dead education. It can only be hoped that the University will continue to build itself on lines which go to make men who think independently and who have a real love for knowledge and for acquiring it.