Buck, Bender Discuss Athletics in Education At Varsity Club Dinner

Varsity Club members gathered more than 200 strong last night in their annual dinner meeting at the clubhouse to hear Provost Buck and Veterans' Counsellor Wilbur J. Bender '27 discuss the role of athletics in twentieth century education and in particular in Harvard College.

After brief opening remarks by Richard C. Floyd '11, president of the Club, Huntington Reed "Tack" Hardwick, and Dick Harlow, who described this year's eleven, Buck launched into a seven-point explanation of the place which football should fill in college education today.

Decrying both professionalism and complete de-emphasis such as that practiced by the university of Chicago, he called for a middle road which recognized the value of athletics and yet did not neglect other educational values. Buck emphasized in his speech that education did not consist essentially of cramming knowledge into students, and that the real educational purpose of creating character could be assisted by extracurricular as well as curricular activities.

In his address Bender discussed the specific problem of football players' choice of an admission to college. He pointed out that the G.I. Bill was helping many students, athletes and other wise, to attend Harvard who could never have done so during peacetime, and said that his standard of admission was the character of the individual and his desire and ability for education--not name or purely scholastic ability.