COUNCIL SCHOLARSHIPS

In voting to use its surplus funds for the creation of scholarships the Student Council has created a precedent which deserves the general approval of those who contribute to the Council's annual budget. This year's Council has made notable with class elections, which have thrived in previous years. At a time when the scholarship funds must become more and more inadequate in relation to the burden placed on them by President Conant's program, the Council could have chosen no more worthy enterprise than the establishment of several new awards.

The basis on which the scholarships will be awarded, however, gives rise to some concern. While the regulations adopted by the Council are framed with masterful ambiguity, it is apparently planned to give primary consideration to participation in extra-curricular activities. Such a plan cannot e deemed to be in the best interests of the students. The extra-curricular activities deserve the encouragement of the College, but they should never be recognized as a primary aim for any student. The award of scholarships in the manner intimated by the Council would have the same effect as athletic scholarships in diverting attention from the real objects of the College.

If the Council is wise, it will exercise great restraint in making its selections, While a few isolated cases may be found in which extra-curricular activities deserve predominant consideration, this cannot be true as a general rule.