Anti-New Yorkitis

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

Reading your two-page spread on Columbia makes me feel a little skeptical of the value of the closely-knit Ivy League. There is no doubt that what the Ivy League really stands for--scholarship--is unsurpassed by any group of colleges in these United States. But it is also true that there appears to be a breach in the union of these colleges. Some three or four of the better-known Ivy League schools have come to look down on the other member colleges. This "looking down" is something more and beyond mere rivalry; it is more in the nature of a deep-rooted disgust.

And what two Ivy League schools have borne the brunt of this antipathy? The University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. Why? Simply because they are situated in the heart of two of America's greatest and largest cities. As far as Columbia is concerned, I think that I can speak with some authority, having taken by M.A. there and having lived in New York all of my life. The picture rendered by the author of those articles in slanted and highly unrepresentative of the life at Columbia.

Location Adds to Education

Columbia in the last two decades seems to be suffering from what I call "anti-New Yorkitis." This is a feeling that anything connected with New York is bad and Columbia, located in New York, is likewise bad. It could not possibly be good as a center for training of men and minds when it is not hidden among the ivy and not at its secluded best. After all, think of the unintelligent rabble New York has! The fact that Columbia's very location adds immeasurably to the education of its students is too often overlooked in condemning this great institution. . . .

The fact that Columbia has no campus of the quadrangle style is great cause for resentment but the fact that it is located in the greatest cultural and intellectual center in the world is not even considered. The fact that Columbia has produced some of the greatest and most profound men, in keeping with the tradition of the Ivy League, obviously means nothing when we remember that "it is in a city nonetheless." The fact that above all scholarship has always been the keynote at Columbia likewise means nothing because "its dormitories look like office buildings." . . .

I can wholeheartedly agree with you in saying that Eisenhower was an unfortunate choice as the head administrator of Columbia. In all fairness to the man, however, we must all recognize the fact that he said he knew little about the operations of a University. Leonard Weinberger 1L