THE HARVARD ALUMNUS

One of the two occasions in the year that Harvard's alumni gather together begins today with the meeting of the Associated Harvard Clubs in St. Louis. As at commencement time, when the Alumni Association meets in Cambridge, there is here sufficient opportunity for Harvard's graduates to renew their acquaintance with their alma mater and to take up in serious discussion some of the problems confronting the University and alumni alike. Although major decisions as to Harvard's policy are not in the hands of the alumni, their thorough knowledge of the task of the administration is desirable.

There is something peculiar and curious about the Harvard alumnus. The change from undergraduate to graduate life affects him singularly. As a student in college he was individualistic and conservative. When the spell of the four years at Cambridge has worn off he has become sentimental and chauvinistic. Something bordering on "collegiatism" has gripped him. The present undergraduate scorns rallies and jingoistic gatherings; he is apathetic toward any urging to one thing or another. The graduate is exhorted to come to this and that gathering. By means of posters, pamphlets, and journals, of the sort which would make the man in college sneer, graduate gatherings are called into being. Also, many a father shows more interest in the football team than does his son who is in college.

But behind all this exterior militant loyalty there is a distinguishing factor which differentiates the Harvard alumnus from the majority of other college graduates. In most cases his love for Harvard is not founded on a blind patriotism but rather on an intellectual admiration for the college that gave him his education. When this develops into a complacent consciousness of superiority it becomes intolerable. But as long as it remains the conviction that going to Harvard was not wasting time but rather the beginning of a vigorous intellectual life the attitude is correct and good. Out of this belief will grow the feeling that Harvard is doing the same today for its undergraduates that it did for him. At the two national yearly gatherings the alumnus renews both his honest admiration for Harvard and his interest in the present affairs of the University.