COUNCIL REPORT

The fruit of months of painstaking research, the report of the Student Council's Scholarship Committee deserves the attention of all who are connected with Harvard's student aid policy. In its mature interpretation of facts and data which cover the whole range of the scholarship question, the Committee has done the college a vital service and has shown, as well, the useful work of which the Council, when it exerts itself, is capable.

Recommending that more stress be laid on character and personal qualities in choosing worthy students, the Committee has put its finger on the heart of the whole problem. In the past the University has been content to give out aids to many applicants, sight unseen, whose numerical averages simply met the requirements. But if Harvard is to render the truly national service that the Conant Prize Plan anticipates, qualities of character--leadership, maturity, and general ability--as well as scholastic aptitude, must be considered in making the awards.

In advising that a single officer be appointed to interview every applicant and that the experience of tutors be carefully heeded, the report points the way to an efficient method of determining students' personal qualities. Furthermore by grouping the awards into classes and not announcing the small "aids", the University will be able to consider extracurricular activities and general all-round ability, unhampered by public criticism and interference. Thus a few deserving Group IV men should no longer be sacrificed for Group III "grinds".

If the recommendations of the Council Committee are carried out, the whole scholarship system will become increasingly valuable, and men more fit for responsibility will be produced. To those whose time and effort went into the report should go the appreciation of the whole college.