GOOD WILL TO MEN

The Floating University has had no dearth of publicity, much of it undesirable. Now that the 500 students and 50 teachers have safely returned the news is slowly circulating that "dear old F. U." was not nearly as bad as it had been painted, that the girls were not such a bad influence after all, and that the students did a great deal besides getting drunk and filling the pages of the newspapers. No doubt many of them returned with a new interest in the affairs of the world, and an understanding of its problems, Perhaps one of that group may be the leader of the future so needed to promote good will and break down the barriers of nationalism.

On the other hand the Floating University did have its shortcomings. No new venture is ever a 100 per cent success. Discipline was weak, we are told, and there were too many students who were only interested in having a good time; the food they say was not always good, and the ship was crowded; there were divisions of authority and petty squabblings among the leaders which lost the respect of the student body. None of these faults ought to be repeated, and all of them can be remedied. Indeed the plans for this fall of the Floating University Aurania seem to indicate that they are being remedied.

Profiting by the experiences of the first venture the Floating University ought to develop into a permanent institution of much value in the world. Americans can no longer afford to be ignorant of the attitudes of other nations; we can no longer afford to dismiss international problems lightly as not concerning us. It is in this field of promoting international understanding and good will that the Floating University can perform its best senvice. To teach 500 college men and women what other people do, what they look like, how they think, and how they feel (this last is often most important) is no light task, but it is worth the effort.

Although the Floating University cannot always draw the best students owing to its comparatively--and necessarily--high cost, there is some consolation for its founders in the fact even mediocre students when exposed to new ideas and interesting people may begin to think about things which have never entered their minds before. The CRIMSON wishes them all possible success in their venture and looks forward to the day when the Floating University shall become the International University with an endowment large enough to enable it to carry students of all nations at a nominal fee or on scholarships.