Alumni Hear Coolidge On New Position

PROVIDENCE, R.I., May 22--Charles A. Coolidge '17, who will serve as President next Fall when President Pusey travels to India, said here tonight that he plans "to let the University run on its own momentum."

Speaking at the annual meeting of the Harvard Club of Rhode Island, the senior member of the Corporation, a Boston lawyer, claimed that his job would be "mainly to open the mail." He further asserted that he would like to sign all correspondence with a rubber stamp saying, "The President will be back on Dec. 4."

Coolidge stated that the Deans will be able to handle all necessary work and that he plans "absolutely no changes" in President Pusey's policies and programs. Although he will stop in at Massachusetts Hall every day, Coolidge said that he will still maintain his Boston law practice.

In a brief discussion of the University's governing bodies, Coolidge, who has been a Fellow since 1935, said that the Board of Overseers "is and must be a rubber stamp organization."

Although Coolidge recognized the power of the Overseers to reverse the decisions of the Corporation, he asserted that they should not undo the Corporation's actions. "The University could not be run efficiently if the Overseers made a practice of overruling the Administration's policies," Coolidge said.

Supports English Diplomas

In response to questions about the diploma incident, Coolidge supported the change from Latin to English because "La'in is no longer the international language of scholars." He did, however, strongly favor the Overseers' decision to switch to a larger and more impressive format next year and labelled the newstyle diplomas "miserable little pieces of paper--like a bond you get in a furniture store." The Corporation approved the new-style diplomas last fall.

He claimed that only 17 members of the Faculty had voted to retain the Latin in a vote taken last fall.

Although Coolidge jokingly stated that some of the alumni might dislike the Department of Economics, he praised the high calibre of the Faculty, a result of the exhaustive selection process of the University.