Babes in the Woods

In less than two months 600 of what may well become Harvard's lost generation will enter the Houses. Immediately this class of 1946 will lose all group unity and become a confused division of the House system. They will be mixed indiscriminately with men who have had two or three years of college education, and their isolation will be emphasized by the probable loss of such Freshman activities as PBH meetings and Radcliffe teas. They will come, moreover, from well-regulated secondary school schedules to a rapid-fire accelerated program which requires students to decide almost at once on their courses of study. The lack of instructors to serve as Freshman advisers will further intensify this problem.

It is a situation which demands more than the routine acclimatization of Sophomores by such measures as Master's teas, House athletics, dances and dinners. If the Houses are to become anything more than stopping-places between New Lecture Hall and Boston night-spots, steps must be taken to integrate the Freshmen into their new environments. By its suggestion to create informal committees of upperclassmen in each entry the Freshman PBH Committee has touched on the problem, but has failed to do more than scratch the surface.

The introduction of a system of Junior Advisers, though a plan contradictory of a standing Harvard tradition against undergraduate advisers, would attack the roots of the growing malady. An upperclassman would be chosen by the House Committee or the Dean's Office to advise a Freshman who has the same general interests in matters ranging from course selection to extracurricular activities. This system has been tried successfully in several smaller colleges in the country. The man-to-man Student Council plan of a decade ago which failed to accomplish its purpose could be made to work if a responsible central committee was set up in each House. The recent suggestion of the Dean's office to use members of the permanent teaching staff living in the Houses is satisfactory for academic purposes, but fails to achieve a more personal adjustment.

Not only does this radical change in the Harvard House system have distinct advantages for the new Freshmen, but it provides the Houses themselves with a fine opportunity to show that they are not mere hotels for the students. Besides aiding in the smooth integration of the Freshmen, the Houses are in an excellent position to help preserve the unity of the class. The creation of an Inter-House Freshman Committee to replace the present Union Committee would serve as a unifying force for class exercises and entertainments, and a weekly system of House dinners for the Freshman, would prevent too limited a circle of friends. In these ways the Houses have a chance to prove convincingly that they are superior to the elaborate dormitory and fraternity system of other colleges.