Fall Out

Happily out of step with its own martial policy, University Hall has shown leniency in a manner hardly expected in these ditch-jumping days. Amazingly fair has been the policy adopted toward Harvard Pacifists' objections to compulsory military exercise; objections to a program brought about not by a sudden interest in sports, but distinctly as a war measure.

Compulsion of a handful of protesting students would have been easy as it would have been useless. A dozen or so organized Pacifists have been allowed by the H. A. A. to quit drills and military calisthenics for less bellicose means of accomplishing the same thing. Going even farther, the Deans have excused from all athletics one extremist who felt that all forms of exercise at Harvard were for the sole purpose of building soldiers. Although embracing even aliens and 4-F's, compulsory athletics was fortunately limited before it could do harm. No blind urge for conformity has forced drilling upon men who will never be called to fight anyway.

Amidst a wave of war hysteria and general suspicion Harvard has here succeeded in keeping its head. Far outweighing the doubtful benefit of conditioning a few pacifists would have been the considerable loss of freedom that such a move of necessity entails. If we hope to avoid ruthless, indiscriminatory suppression, we must be as liberal toward harmless minorities as we are stern in our opposition to dangerous ones.