Questions Football Poll

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

The football poll you conducted was not a fair statement of alternatives. I do not think that present policy considers scholarships an inducement to good high school students, or a reward for high grades at college. Scholarships are intended to put into practical terms what Harvard considers the proper qualifications for admissions and Deans List; if students can support themselves they are not eligible for scholarships no matter how good their record. This is a bold attempt to eliminate the economic factor privately in higher education, and represents perhaps the most liberal scholarship philosophy of any university.

But this scholarship program does not dispose of unlimited funds, and even those it has are already to a large extent earmarked by the tastes of donors. If these were to be spent in the effort to restore athletic prestige and profits, it would mean the practical end of that philosophy.

I do not consider a successful football team superfluous for Harvard. It is a requirement of dignity and competence to do well what we undertake to do in whatever department. If the Admissions Office wants to weigh football ability more heavily, or the Dean's Office equate so many hours of practice with a B or an A, there will then be a larger number of football players eligible for scholarships. But the phrasing of the questions in your poll leaves no alternatives besides letting down the football team and sacrificing the integrity of the scholarship programme. Wolfgang Hallo '49