CONANT AWARDED FORD HALL FORUM 1935 GOLD MEDAL

Because he is "the person in our community who has rendered preeminent service to human welfare," President Conant was awarded the Ford Hall Forum gold medal at its annual banquet last evening. He was chosen because of his statement refusing the Hanfstaengl scholarship last year because of its donor's political affiliations.

In accepting the award, President Conant said,

"It is a great honor to receive this award,--a particular honor to receive a medal from the Ford Hall Forum, an institution which for more than twenty years, has been in the words of Calvin Coolidge, 'a vital influence in Boston and a good example for other communities.'....

"The course which I have attempted to follow is only that clearly marked out by President Eliot and valiantly defended by President Lowell. The fight is a never ending one and I accept this medal as a token of your interest in this important aspect of a free democracy."

In 1933 the medal was awarded to Mrs. E. Glendower Evans, while Miss Alice Stone Blackwell was chosen for the honor last year.

At the same time, according to custom, the Forum presented its "Annual Impertinence" this time called "The Coroner's Inquest" or "Who Killed Democracy?"

Included on the panel to conduct the inquest were: Zechariah Chaffee, Jr., professor of law, Felix Frankfurter, Byrne Professor of Administrative Law, Arthur M. Schlesinger, professor of History, and Harlow Shapley, Paine Professor of Practical Astronomy. Gaetano Salvemini, Lauro De Bosis Lecturer on the History of Italian Civilization, served as a witness at the inquest designated as "The Enemy of Fascism."