THE UNIVERSITY'S NEED

Mr. Allen has written in the news columns of the needs of the University. He calls attention to the necessity of greater facilities for the Chemistry Department; more dormitories; better accommodations for the graduate schools; a larger auditorium; and a new athletic building. All these and many more seem absolutely essential even if the present enrollment does not further increase.

Enumerating needs is interesting, particularly in that it usually results in considering the means of satisfying them. The question in our case, however, is not whther we need a new gym more than a dormitory but whether there is any possibility of getting either. The answer is obvious; the University has not the funds to increase the equipment unless it again appeals to graduates for aid. The possibilities in this direction, in view of the difficulty with which the Endowment Fund was completed, are not great.

Following this train of thought--if we cannot increase our equipment to meet the demand can we not, Oriental-wise, decrease our demand. Limitation or enrollment, it is true, has not been the policy of Harvard. The reason is that it is not entirely in accord with the tradition of a liberal institution. The idea that Harvard should deprive any one intellectually qualified of access to the opportunities it offers has not been popular.

But whether we like it or not we are coming to the state where we must at least consider this question of limiting enrollment. Whenever it becomes evident that on the one hand our equipment is so inadequate that the members of the University are seriously handicapped is their training and on the other that we cannot get the where-withal to remedy the situation, limitation of enrollment must be for us more than an object of academic discussion.