TOW MORE FRESHMEN DECIDE TO RENOUNCE PRECONCEIVED IDEAS OF LIFE AT HARVARD

"Is President Lowell Harvard's center?" asks a Freshman in one of the two themes quoted in today's CRIMSON.

He does not speak in a football sense, however. The question merely typifies his search for the "essence of Harvard," which, he discovers, is the one important thing lacking in the University.

Thrilled and awed by almost all he finds at Harvard, this member of the class of 1929 is disappointed because he has been unable to find a single spot or symbol whereat he can point and say: "This is Harvard."

The theme, entitled, "What I First Thought of Harvard," follows.

"We came up to Harvard on the subway, and as my friend and I stepped out upon the street level I felt an agreeable sense of strangeness and yet of familiarity. Directly opposite was the 'Coop,' lit up and glistening like a brand new backdrop. Next to it 'Harvard Trust' was sparkling in a sign of Kohinoors. 'This is Harvard Square,' I said to myself, remembering a zealously studied map. A surge of brisk, chill air cooled our faces. Light twinkled and beamed all around, as if in general welcome. People and autos and streetcars passed like noisy phantoms. So unreal and theatrical did it all seem that I wanted to pinch myself, but at that moment, with a word, my friend plunged into the midst of the props and characters, and I followed perforce.

Impressions of Harvard Square

"We turned away from the brilliant stage, and strode down a side street into blue shadows. I felt the rolling, uneven footing of brick. A narrow walk it was, and scarce wide enough for two; often I brushed against rough walls. Once when a lamp sent out a swelling yellow glow I saw an ancient house, primly white, with great green shutters bent forward a little, standing in silence as if listening to ghostly voices and the clump of buckled shoes, now so long silent.

It had an air, did this street, an age old air of dignity and of sociability; here was a carven stone, fraught with history; there a quickly opened door let out a stream of light and gallant voices. All around me--I knew and I could feel it in the air--flowed the choicest hours of college. Here were the dormitories and club-houses, here were the college papers and magazines, here were the clubs of all kinds, and some of the athletic buildings. Such a mixture of work and fun I sensed that the breeze felt crisp and joyful with youth. This was a good part of Harvard I knew, but where was Harvard? In the days that followed I passed through the yard, found it a larger and more handsome place than I had been led to expect; I entered many famous buildings; I sat in the Stadium and felt like an ant in a bath-tub. But where was Harvard? These were very important sections of it, and perhaps University 4 or Memorial Hall was nearest to the center of it, but where was the center, the essence of Harvard.

Enjoys Meetings for Freshmen

I enjoyed the welocme to the class held at Smith Halls. I was proud to see President Lowell. Is he Harvard's center? I would prefer it to be something permanent. At the meetings in the Union I especially liked the speeches of the undergraduates. If not the center, at least they are the heart of Harvard. But the essence of Harvard--?

"Now you know what I have been seeking. Harvard is so huge and widespread and complex that no Freshman can stand in one place, and with his eyes upon one spot, say "This is Harvard." And I greatly doubt if anyone else can. What I want to find is something eminently symbolic which in my mind will mean Harvard, prue and simple.

"I enjoyed the kindly, if impersonal welcome; I highly appreciated the inspiring language of your best men; nevertheless, what I would like to have been shown at the first was a shrine, where I might, with all the fervor of an incoming Freshman pledge myself and my allegiance to the Harvard that I saw before me.

Nothing, however, apparently displeased the writer of the second theme printed today. Complete satisfaction with the reception given him is expressed in the following composition.

"The transition between school and college, which is very great in itself, can be and generally is made, much more difficult by the upperclassmen, who seem to take an unaccountable delight in tormenting some luckless Freshman. Such was my conception of the situation which I should have to comfront at Harvard. It was not long, however, before I discarded my long conceived opinion of the hardship which a Freshman had to endure and began to realize that a Freshman at Harvard is treated like any other human being. I consider this innovation as another great step away from barbarism, for no civilized person can take pleasure in making it unpleasant for his fellow beings.

Newcomer Gets Much Advice

"After going through the routine of registering, meeting my faculty adviser, and selecting my courses, I passed through a period during which I was literally crammed with advice. Almost every speaker began with "I know that you are just full of advice" and ended by giving us still more advice. Each piece of advice, if taken singly, was valuable. It was the quantity which made it cheap.

Another feature which greatly aided the Freshmen this year was the fact that they were required to come in advance of the upper classmen. This extra time was spent not only in meeting other members of the class but also in becoming familiar with the University and its management. In other words, the Freshman class was established as a unit before the appearance of the upperclassmen on the scene.

It is my honest opinion that in no other college or university in the country was the incoming class more heartily welcomed both by the faculty and by the upperclassmen, than the class of '29 at Harvard.