RECOGNIZING TALENT

It is still an open question whether the University errs in the way it admits students, but, layman or educator, no one can doubt that the ingrown attitude towards teachers who resign or are dismissed sometimes makes Harvard appear in the wrong.

It's not the actual dismissing that deserves criticism so much as its full effect. More than once a faculty member has left here to make a celebrated name for himself at some other institution, and more than once Harvard has tried to get him back. Buying back as professors those who should have been allowed to develop here from instructors is not good logic.

The reasons for dismissal, in certain cases, are disputable. Why, for instance, should an English teacher be required to waste several years obtaining a Ph.D., if he has no interest in doing his research work in Philosophy? Such a man can prove as good a scholar along more modern and more unexplored lines. Granted that the academic side of teaching is the major consideration, the human or personal element must not be overlooked. For, unless a man puts his knowledge across to his students, he is merely a scholar, not a teacher. Again, should the political or social tendencies of teachers be permitted to affect their University position? If Harvard wants to practice liberality, such restriction does not seem just.

The rumor has been circulated around Harvard that a popular English instructor who resigned about a year ago desires to return. If this is true, and if the University refuses to accept him, it will be one more example of letting wheat slip through the chaff. Because some day in the future the world may spotlight this man and Harvard try to persuade him to join the flock; then one of its worst attitudes will simply be perpetuated.