Cal Head Hails GE, GI's, Gridders

New state universities in "an unstoppable wave" will result from GI Bill-stimulated demand for higher education if the guess of University of California President Robert Gordon Sproul turns out correctly.

Sproul predicted Saturday that successful agitation in a state such as New York would lead "without question to the mush-rooming of more institutions everywhere; and, I might add, all of them co-ed."

The head man in the nation's largest university traveled East from his eight-campus real'n of 41, 451 students for a Thanksgiving visit with Robert Jr. 21, and ten-month-old grandson Robert III ("we're forming a dynasty"). President Canant acted as host during the four-day stay in Cambridge.

Young Ideas

To Sproul Harvard is "an extraordinary institution because in spite of its great age and prestige it still has young ideas. If Harvard were stuck in a rut it would be a terrible thing for American education. "He continually senses the" enormous stimulation which comes from having a liberal, progressive institution in a position of respect such as yours.

"Take the General Education Report," he ventures. "The outstanding fact was hardly in its Intrinsic newness, for similar approaches had been attempted else where, but in its tremendous effect among faculties all over the country. Only the imprimatur of Harvard University can get that effect. Why at Cal there's been desultory discussion for years: the Report was like yeast in the place. Committees have been set up, they're holding meetings, something will be done."

Today U.S. faculties "overwhelmingly agree that Harvard is the first institution of the land" in Sproul's estimation. "I might debate below," he comments with a glance at the popular Chicago Columbia California 2-3-4 listing, "but there can exist no doubt whatever as to the primacy of Harvard."

What about the role of an educational leader in the intercollegiate football wars? "Disenchantment" provokes only a shrug from Sproul ("these bad season . . .") for Cal jumped from a 7 out of 9 losing streak last season to an 8 game clutch of victories this fall. "I've seen these crises over and over," he smiles. "They'll talk about subsidization. A student body ought to recognize that there's no real glory in a team that's been bought and paid for. It doesn't mean a thing unless it grows out of the actual life of the institution."

The idea that every effort to draw the man both intelligent and brawny to the College is not necessarily under way fails to penetrate. "I can't believe that your alumni keep their hands off athletics. They don't at my school."

Perhaps casting a sidelong doubt toward next year's schedule, Sproul went on to suggest that "you ought to find opponents in your own class. I wouldn't take on Jack Dempsey; it wouldn't be fun for anybody. Get games with institutions ethically and athletically on your own level. Play the game on your own standards, not the sportswriter's.