CONANT TO TAKE OFFICE IN SIMPLE CEREMONY TODAY

President Conant will be officially installed in his new office this afternoon at 4.30 o'clock in the Faculty Room of University Hall before a group of 150 people. In contrast to the inauguration of President Lowell, which took place before 13,000 people exactly 24 years ago last Friday, the program will be very simple. By the request of President Conant, the ceremony will be patterned after the installation of President Leverett in 1707.

The ceremony will be held in the presence of the Honorable and Reverend Board of Overseers; his Excellency, the Governor of the Commonwealth, Joseph B. Ely; his honor, the Mayor of Boston; James A. Curley; His Honor, the Mayor of Cambridge, Richard M. Russell '14; the President Emeritus, A. Lawrence Lowell; the secretary of the Corporation, Francis W. Hunnewell '02; the Former Fellows of Harvard College; the Reverend Board of Preachers; the Deans of the several faculties; Directors and Curators; the Masters of the Houses; Senior members of the several faculties; and representatives of the graduate students.

Ames To Attend

Richard G. Ames '34, president of the Student Council, will represent the students of the College at the ceremony.

President Conant's first wish was to omit all ceremony in connection with his installation. He felt that an elaborate ceremony such as the one in 1909 when representatives from all corners of the world flocked to the Yard would involve heavy expense and interruption to the work of both faculty and students. At this time, when the University is forced to practice rigid economics in every field of activity, a formal inauguration would seem particularly inappropriate. As careful accounts of the simple Leverett inauguration are preserved in the Corporation records and in the diaries of John Leverett and Samuel Sewall, today's program will be almost identical to the one in 1707.

There will be no outward display or procession. The attendants will gather informally in the Faculty Room after arriving individually. The committee which arranged the installation consists of George R. Agassiz '84, President of the Board of Overseers; Thomas N. Perkins '91, senior member of the Corporation; and Phillip P. Chase '99, the University Marshal.

No Inaugural Address

President Conant, in a brief speech at Leverett House last Wednesday evening, announced that he would offer no inaugural address, and this silence would be in keeping with the precedent set by the Leverett installation.

The installation program, to take place at 4.30 o'clock today, is as follows:

1. The University Marshal, Philip P. Chase '99, conducts the Custodians of the College Insignia: The Comptroller, Arthur L. Endicott '94, with the keys, and The Director of the University Library, Robert P. Blake, with the Charter. Seals, and Records followed by the Fellows of Harvard College.

2. George R. Agassiz, President of the Board of Overseers, escorts James Bryant Conant to the Presidential Chair.

3. The exercises are then opened with a prayer by the Chairman of the Board of Preachers, Willard L. Sperry.

4. Mr. Agassiz presents the insignia of office to the President. President Conant accepts the insignia.

5. The exercises close with the singing of the seventy-eighth psalm, led by the University Choir.