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The Mail THE ELEPHANT'S FAULT

By John Holt

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

With respect to Edward Gruson's letter re: Harvard vs. The Cambridge Free School, one thing puzzles me-he says, "... we asked the owner to permit the school to remain in the building..."-it seems to me that Harvard might have done something a good deal stronger than ask-why could they not have said, since they were buying the building, "we want this building to stand with the school using it until we can find a mutually satisfactory replacement." To hear Mr. Gruson, one might suppose that Harvard was helpless in the matter.

I'm afraid I do not find Mr. Gruson's statement altogether convincing. For several years now the Davises have worked very hard, for little or no salary, to found and operate the Free School. I do not believe that they would have let it close if there had seemed to them the slightest possibility of keeping it open, any more than I believe that if Harvard had been seriously interested in keeping it open, they could not have found some means of doing so.

In short, when an elephant steps on a mouse, it's hard for me to believe that it's the mouse's fault.

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