CREW

Three years ago when the Harvard crew was left in mid-season without a coach, E. J. Brown '96 performed a graceful service by taking over the instruction of the University boat. It was a critical time and his prompt acceptance of this new responsibility saved an otherwise difficult and embarrassing situation. He had been very successful as a class crew coach and nothing but gratitude was felt by Harvard men when he stepped into a breach which the shortness of the time before the Yale race made impossible to fill in any other way.

Frankly, however, the last two seasons have not been such as to satisfy the large majority of Harvard men. The reasons for this are too tangled to be dismissed with a mere charge of incompetence against the coach although this is undeniably the most obvious feature of the situation. Harvard crews have apparently felt some necessity for including the largest possible proportion of men who have rowed on preparatory school crews. It is admittedly difficult to weld a free swinging unit from material which comes to Harvard possessed of ingrained differences in rowing habits, but it is a tradition difficult to break away from. Mr. Brown should not be too severely censured for his failure to do so.

It is fortunate however, that Mr. Brown's withdrawal from coaching the first boats does not carry with it his complete disappearance from Harvard rowing. His former success with the class boats indicates that he is amply qualified to care for situations involving less pressure than the instruction of the first University boat.