DROPPED FRESHMEN

The improvement of the freshman scholastic record which was noted at midyears has evidently been maintained to a proper finish, and has alleviated the problem of dealing with those who are not promoted to the Sophomore class. Since the number of these so-called dropped Freshmen is expected to be smaller this year, more leniency will be used by the Administrative Board in admitting to the Houses those whose deficiencies are slight. Those whose status forbids their taking full advantage of the House Plan are to be quartered, not in a body, as before, but in various dormitories outside the Yard.

The advantage of scattering the dropped Freshmen instead of quarantining them together in Shepherd and one or two other halls has been evident for some years past. Instead of bringing on a feeling of penitence, which is presumably what was expected, the effect of the old policy was to make the primrose path to everlasting probation even more inviting than it is ordinarily. Placed in a more normal environment, the probationed men may slide into habits of study which would be, in Shepherd, for example, quite unfeasible. The only legitimate regrets are that this reform was not effected sooner, and that it finally came, not because of its advisability, but because of its expediency, Shepherd having been threatened with condemnation as a fire hazard.

Whether so intended or not, the relaxation in standards of admission will help to fill up rooms in the Houses which would otherwise stand empty. This step towards economy should be a guarded one; in justice, provisional upperclassmen should not be given the choice of quarters before those in good standing. Otherwise, the move is a good one. House life gives, both theoretically and in practice, tactful guidance into academic ways of life; to deprive those men of its influences, who most need it, would be a serious administrative blunder.