Athletics with the Armed Services

Soldiers Field is fast taking as intimate a part in Harvard's war effort as University Hall itself. But athletic participation is still incomplete, for the College has reached no decision on Varsity games with service teams. Athletic Department support of engagements with squads from Army and Navy bases has been growing steadily. Last week's announcement that the football team may add a service game to its schedule marks the initial step in this as yet unexplored field. The problem of sustaining interest in sports during the summer term increases the need for immediate action.

So far collegiate pride and a rigid budget have blocked the plan's adoption. The desire for a successful intercollegiate record emerges when the proposal for service games is mentioned. At other colleges, including Princeton, Swarthmore, and Fordham, a different attitude prevails, for their teams have already played Army athletes. Less flexible is the problem of expenses. The cost of trips to Army camps and of umpires and equipment for home games would unbalance an already strained budget. To fill the gap the Athletic Department has asked the Corporation for a supplementary grant.

Compulsory exercise and military drilling are only the intramural half of a wartime athletic program. Games with the services are the other half, and a sincere desire to fulfill President Conant's pledge of complete cooperation with the armed forces should ensure passage of the appropriation.