Veritas Vanitas

The nomination of Ralph Bunche for an Overseer's post has convinced the Veritas Foundation once again that the old, good and true Harvard has been transformed into a left-wing forum whose administrators are naively unaware of the danger of the Communist conspiracy.

In presenting its case to the alumni the Veritas group tried to place in the Alumni Bulletin an advertisement which the magazine wisely turned down. Regardless of the tone of such an advertisement--whether a reasoned statement or a scurilous attack--the Bulletin acted correctly in rejecting it. The policy which it follows of avoiding intramural controversy is a healthy one; the Alumni Bulletin correctly sees itself as a pleasant journal which lets the alumni body keep in touch with each other and with the University. To get involved in factional fights within that body of alumni would merely destroy the magazine's purpose.

As for the Veritas Foundation itself, its zeal seems ill-considered. The informal suggestion from one of the committee members last year that a filtering committee be established to prevent any future appointments of communists, or whomever is adjudged objectionable, is of course pernicious. Appointments to the faculty are amply reviewed as it is, and a watchdog committee would quickly extend its baleful influence. The Veritas Foundation, which considers that Harvard graduates at present are taught by a predominantly "leftist" faculty, would presumably try to correct this imbalance. Any such attempt would jeopardize the freedom this University has maintained for its faculty members--one of its finest features, and one that should not be encroached upon.

The Veritas Foundation is, however, entitled to present its case to the Alumni and the Administration. Members of the foundation have stated that they do not wish to hurt the Program for Harvard College, either as a tactic or as a contingent result of their campaign. Yet even allowing that they may consider the urgency of their appeal more imperative than the success of the Program, their sincertiy about not wishing to hurt the Program is open to question when they solicit for their own fund drive.

The rummaging of the Veritas Foundation into past records and its statements about the composition of the University indicate that its views both on the issue at hand and on the wider issue of appointments are misguided and dangerous to free education.