A SCHOLAR AND A DIPLOMAT

The organization of the Fletcher Graduate School of Diplomacy at Tufts University represents the concrete realization of a desire long felt by educators to further the important study of international relations. The new school which is to be situated at Tufts, will have a faculty composed largely of Harvard professors; its curriculum, determined by a joint commission of the two Universities, will purpose to quality students for diplomatic service by advance instruction in international law.

In rendering the decision which made such an unorthodox law school legally possible, the Massachusetts Supreme court must have foreseen the definite need for an institution of this sort. At present the interests of graduate students in the subject of international relations has been almost entirely vocational; courses have been taken merely for the purpose of satisfying degree requirements or those of civil service examinations. The commercialization which has pervaded the atmosphere of nearly every school in the field has been a strong factor in discouraging scholarly research and the entrance of able students into the academic career.

The foundation of the new Fletcher School is a recognition of the great possibilities afforded by a separate institution in the study of international diplomacy. Under judicious management it may well gain the prestige and dignity of organized scholarship which is impossible to attain while the field is regarded merely as a part of an Arts and Sciences curriculum or when, although isolated, it labors under the stigma of pure vocationalism. Study under such conditions would endow men entering the state department with a far more scholarly attitude than before; the new atmosphere should encourage more students to enter the field as research scholars. If the school can bring about these results, it will render a great service for the cause of a more intelligent attitude toward the study of international relations.