Everybody's Business

The sound and fury emanating from Harvard's cauldrons of political discussion has long been out of proportion to the small nucleus of students who actually participate. Since Pearl Harbor, however, even this has boiled down to a mere fizzle.

That politics is everybody's business in war as well as peace is the basic assumption of the new Harvard Forum. With speakers of the Conant, Hershey, Ingersoll, Hillman calibre as the feature attraction, the Forum could do much to widen the horizon of student interest in public affairs.

Initially sponsored by the Student Council, the Forum is designed to raise political activity at Harvard above the level of pressure groups. Intended as a center of all such activity, possibly even coordinating debating and the Post-War Council, it can well become a real measure of Harvard opinion. Representing Harvard as a whole, the Forum can through bigger speakers and more ambitious programs assume a leading influence far beyond the meagre possibilities of the many confusing groups that now exist.

If the Forum is to fulfill its considerable promise, the quality of speakers must be kept consistently high. Vigorous student participation must prevent it from beginning the happy hunting grounds of any group or point of view. Political decisions are now a matter of life and death; students can no longer avoid them.