MARVIN DESCRIBES MEANS FOR ALUMNI TO MAINTAIN CONNECTION WITH UNIVERSITY

Commencement Day can have for every graduate a real significance as the beginning of a long period of Harvard experience said Langdon P. Marvin '98 in an interview to the CRIMSON on alumni relations with the University. Mr. Marvin, formerly President of the Associated Harvard Clubs and Vice-President of the Alumni Association, is a member of the Board of Overseers.

Commencement Should Not be End

"The average undergraduate looks forward to Commencement as the end of his connection with the University", said Mr. Marvin. "It can mark, however, and should mark for every graduate the beginning of a long period of Harvard experience. While an undergraduate, he has had this experience in a concentrated form for four years, but he can, if he wishes, have close associations with Harvard for the rest of his life. He will find these associations as delightful, inspiring, useful, and valuable as any he will have in life.

"The interest of many Harvard men becomes more intense the older they get. This is true not only of men such as President Eliot, who has devoted his life to Harvard, but of men like Joseph H. Choate '52, who took an active interest in Harvard and in all Harvard affairs to the day of his death in 1917.

Many Ways to Maintain Connection

"Any graduate who wants to keep in touch with the University can do so in many different ways, regardless of where he may be.

"First, the Alumni Bulletin, which every graduate should take, brings him weekly news of the University and of the alumni all over the world; those who want to keep more closely in touch with Harvard life can have daily connection through the CRIMSON.

"Then, when a man graduates, he becomes automatically a member of the Harvard Alumni Association, which is the general association of all Harvard individuals--'the living Harvard force' of some 42,000. He can attend the annual meetings on Commencement afternoon and help direct the affairs of the Association by voting for directors or perhaps by serving himself in such a capacity. And after a man has been out of College five years, he has the right and the real responsibility of taking a hand in the government of the University by voting for members of the Board of Overseers. He has no right to shirk this responsibility any more than he has the right to shirk the responsibility of voting in public elections.

"A graduate can also take active part in suggesting candidates for the Board of Overseers or by serving on the nominating committee appointed by the Alumni Association, and perhaps, in time, by serving on the Board himself. All this keeps him in constant touch with and thought of the University.

Harvard Clubs Offer Personal Bond

"Perhaps the most personal means of keeping in touch with Harvard is through the local Harvard Club, which every Harvard man should join as soon as he graduates. There are about 125 Harvard Clubs, which are members of the Associated Harvard Clubs, and there are doubtless others, which are not associated with the general body. Of the Associated Clubs, over 100 are in the United States, which means that there is a Harvard Club within reach of every Harvard man in the country. There are Harvard Clubs all over the world: Canada, South America, Mexico, Cuba, Hawaii, the Philippines, Japan, and the North of China. There are also flourishing clubs in London, Paris, Rome, and Berlin.

This body has an annual three-day session, which is a unique forum for the discussion of Harvard affairs, and where also a most excellent time is had. The first day of these meetings is devoted to the discussion of the graduate schools, the second day to business of the Association, and the third day to outdoor sports. There are dinners and entertainment's on each of the three nights. This year it took place in Baltimore on May 21, 22, and 23, giving a real opportunity for Eastern members to take part.

Committees Report Annually

There are some 20 committees of the Associated Harvard Clubs, standing or special, each of which is working through the year in the study of some particular Harvard matter or problem.

"Only two of the Harvard Clubs" have club houses of their own, Boston and New York, while the Harvard Club of Chicago shares a club with Yale and Princeton. The rest of the Clubs have annual meetings, and most of them much more frequent meetings--either monthly or at weekly Saturday luncheons during the winter. It is a safe thing to say that practically every Harvard Club throughout the world holds a tense meeting at the end of the telegraph wire, cable, or radio the night of the Harvard-Yale football game.

Most Harvard Clubs Easy to Join

"To join most Harvard Clubs is a very simple matter. All that a man has to do is tell the secretary or almost any member that he is a Harvard man living in the community and wants to join, and he is promptly enrolled. It is necessarily somewhat more formal in the Boston and New York groups, which are run as social clubs. In these two organizations, candidates must be proposed and seconded by two members of the Club and their names passed on by the committee on admissions.

"Another constant lifelong bond with Harvard is, of course, one's class and every graduate should make a point of attending his class reunions as long as he lives. Many graduates find that these reunions increase in interest and enjoyment with age.

Alumni Relations Committee Formed

"The University has recently taken a step designed to keep close the bonds with the Alumni by the appointment by the Board of Overseers of a Committee on Alumni Relations and of a Secretary for Alumni Affairs with an office in University Hall. The Committee is composed of the presidents of the University, of the Alumni Association, and of the Associated Harvard Clubs, ex officio, and of four Overseers,--a very representative group of graduates--and the Secretary for Alumni Affairs. The Secretary is J. W. D. seymour '17, who is also Secretary of the Alumni Association.

"It is therefore obvious that there is every opportunity for a Harvard graduate to keep in touch with Harvard affairs. Those who neglect to do so lose an interest which might well color their whole lives."