THE OLD WORLD AND THE NEW

Today's CRIMSON announces the appointments to and the progress of Kirkland House. As the new dormitories rise on Boylston street as adjuncts to the present Smith Halls Quadrangle, one thought is already apparent long before this unit of the House Plan is completed. Kirkland House, if only symbolically, is a combination of the Harvard of the Past and the Harvard of the Future.

Smith Halls are a landmark of the last few generations of the University, and are to remain substantially the same; two "House" dormitories rise by their side. The library, replete with a modern collection similar to the other House libraries, is to be placed in the historic Hicks House of 1762 vintage. A replica of Straus hall will serve as the small dormitory, and the present Freshman squash courts will continue to do active duty. Perhaps the most symbolic is the new name of the House. Reminiscent of the Augustan Age of Harvard, President Kirkland was initiative in bringing about the creation of the president as an executive rather than a pedagogue.

Perhaps all of these similarities will make Kirkland individualistic. At least, it may be hoped that they are a symbol of the fact that the Houses are not a complete breakaway from what was useful and worth keeping in the Harvard of the Past.