IN THE BALANCE

College means a sacrifice for a far greater number than usual this year and for this reason it is well to question honestly whether Harvard offers its students an education. The process of education has been defined as the "maturing of certain views of life and the creation of certain demands on life" or, in other words, the function of education is to stimulate and enlarge a man's philosophy. Accepting this definition of education it becomes impossible to maintain that Harvard educates any but a small fraction of its undergraduates. The majority of graduates have benefited in many ways from their four years here but they have in no way changed or added to their "spiritual experience"; what they have done is to crystallize a set of habits and a group of confused ideas into a makeshift way of life.

As long as the primary ideal of the undergraduates remains un-educational the University cannot expect to produce a greater number of educated men, but there is in existence a system which if it were carried to its logical conclusion might be truly educational. Were the tutorial system for honors candidates designed to inspire men to penetrate beneath the level of so-called cultural knowledge into the realm of experience and wisdom by means of a thorough study and understanding of some philosophy embodied in a civilization whether past or present, then the ideal might be realized. A group of students seeking knowledge of this sort and living a communal life within the University would be a powerful-generative and inspirational force. To the average undergraduate Harvard now represents merely a means to becoming a gentleman, a trained scholar, or a business man with sufficient culture to make profitable use of his leisure time. Possibly there is no way in which this view can be changed, but this much is certain: without some tangible proof, it becomes increasingly difficult to convince today's college student that the "traditional education" is of value to him.