Dr. Cutler Replies

(Ed. Note--The Crimson does not necessarily endorse opinions expressed in printed communications. No attention will be paid to anonymous letters and only under special conditions, at the request of the writer, will names be withheld.)

To the Editor of the CRIMSON:

I have read with interest your issue of March 30th and congratulate your paper on picking out the important item in our invitation to E. F. Hanfstaengel '09, to return to his twenty-fifth reunion and to be an aid at the Commencement alumni exercises.

The choice of aids is a function of the Chief Marshal and, since Hanfstaengel was a friend of mine in college, it was natural that I should choose him as one of the fifty aids. Moreover, I felt that, the alumni exercises being a strictly intimate Harvard family affair, any alumnus should be welcomed back. The very fact that it happened to be a university alumni gathering made it even more certain that one could entertain people of varying beliefs, for freedom of thought and speech is the breath of life of a real university. I regret that Hanfstaengel finds he cannot return and I think it unfortunate that some people have interjected political issues into an intimate family gathering. It emphasizes acutely how strong is the power of sentiment.

It is also unfortunate that some of the people who have written concerning this matter have looked upon the appointment of Hanfstaengel as coming from the University authorities. The Chief Marshal and his aids and marshals hold office for the afternoon gathering of the alumni on Commencement Day. They are appointed by the directors of the Alumni Association, not by the University officers.

That the undergraduates should see so clearly the principles which have underlain this matter deserves notice and demands congratulations. Elliott Cutler '09.