THE LEAVEN OF MATURITY

After prolonged criticism of the treatment of the commuting students, a definite step has finally been taken to make their lot easier. It was announced yesterday that eleven members of the faculty had offered to meet the commuters every day in Phillips Brooks House; sandwiches and other modest edibles may be purchased in the basement of the building, where the meetings will take place, and the room has been decorated so as to make it a pleasant refuge. Officers are to be elected from the body of the men, to care for the affairs of the group, and it is hoped that a smoothly functioning and beneficial organization will result.

It goes without saying that the intent of the plan is commendable. One of the main objections to the aggrandizement of Harvard has been that it stifled intercourse between students and faculty. This drawback, through the House Plan, has been largely removed for the students under the motley towers. If the innovation at Phillips Brooks succeeds, it will in some measure do the same for the commuters. While they have used the building in the past, they have done so without the advantages of union among themselves and association with the more mature tutorial mind.

There are, however, possible disadvantages to the plan. In the first place, there are eleven tutors and a hundred and fifty students involved. It is conceivable that the meagre allotment from the faculty will not go around among the eager disciples. In the second place, meetings under these somewhat artificial circumstances may discourage the free and easy spirit found in the houses. Finally, the enthusiasm which is expected on the part of the commuters themselves may never appear. The plan on the whole is a judicious move: if it receives unqualified support from the students and tutors, and if it is fortunate in the selection of men it receives from the faculty, it should prove a boon and a basis for further advance; otherwise, it will quietly vanish away.