ENLARGING THE COLLEGE

In his report to the president, published this morning, Mr. Pennypacker suggests that the annual quota for men admitted to the Freshman class be more flexible. For some eight years the quota was fixed at 1,000, until last fall 161 additional Freshmen were allowed to register. The sudden increase, Mr. Pennypacker reveals rather naively, was due largely to a miscalculation, but the Committee feels that due to the greater number and improved quality of applicants, the restriction of the class to 1,000 can well be permanently abandoned.

It must be recognized, first of all, that an appreciable increase in the size of the College would make necessary an enlargement both of the housing facilities and of the academic staff. The jump last year in the number of applicants for admission contrasted sharply with the situation at most other colleges and no doubt seemed to indicate that such an enlargement of the facilities of the College would be warranted. But is there any assurance that the number of applicants will continue to grow, or will even hold the ground gained last year over any length of time? The factors which heighten the popularity of a college in the minds of preparatory school students are not easy to determine. At Harvard the publicity attendant upon the institution of the House Plan, the superior financial position in time of depression, and the success of many of the athletic teams in recent years, can be cited as plausible explanations. But may it not be that the rising wave of popularity evidenced last spring was but the upswing of a cyclical movement which will sooner or later come to an end? And unless there is definite assurance that this is not so, would it be wise to rush into plans for enlarging the facilities to take care of larger classes?

Even accepting the philosophy of the new era and granting that the increased Freshman application may be permanent, the desirability of enlarging the College is very doubtful. To cry mass production would be unfair but it may be pointed out that the College's first concern should be to raise the standard rather than the number of those admitted. The existence of a larger surplus of applicants offers a solendid opportunity for greater discrimination, and surely the University is under no moral obligation to admit all who satisfy the existing requirements.

The fact that the House Plan and the tutorial system have done away to a considerable extent with the disadvantages of a large college should not be taken as carte blanche for enlarging the College indiscriminately. To try to extend the benefits of a Harvard education to all qualified comers would tend inevitably to impair those benefits.