ATHLETIC COVENANT

The new athletic agreement with Yale, which replaces the now defunct tripartate pact between Yale, Princeton, and Harvard, is not particularly significant in its terms. The only modification of importance, that in Section 3 of Article VI of the original pact, operates chiefly to avoid misunderstandings from over-vague wording. Aside from that, the general tendency of the new agreement seems to be to offer more freedom to the independent discretion of the respective Athletic Committees than was permitted under the old regime. Beyond the statement about post-season or sectional championship games, in fact, Yale and Harvard will in the future conduct their athletic policies on the basis of a friendly, but much more highly informal arrangement than existed under the Triple Agreement.

Yale and Harvard are probably more progressive in their athletic policies than any other two colleges in the country. It would seem, therefore, unfortunate on the surface that a more binding agreement could not have been concluded between them, for two colleges standing shoulder to shoulder for high standards or reform would be more effective than independent lines of action no matter how intelligent and courageous. However, viewed from another angle, the very informality of the arrangement bespeaks at once the mutual confidence of Yale for Harvard and Harvard for Yale; and at the same time promises closer cooperation than the terms themselves would demand.