Poor Attendance Forces Close of Forum Activities

Discouraged by sparse undergraduate attendance at its meetings and study groups this term, the Harvard Forum will not reappear on the College scene next fall, president Emanual Parzen '49 announced yesterday.

Parzen attributed the large attendance at the forum's recent meeting to "the drawing power of Dorothy Thompson's personality," and repeated that the Thompson address would stand as the final bow of the organization.

Starting the year with an ambitious program of graduate-led study groups for students here and at Radcliffe, the forum signed up over a hundred undergraduates who professed their interest in contemporary topics such as "Governments in the Postwar World," "Ideas in Modern Philosophy," and "Race and Religious Prejudices." The initial meetings of the eleven study sessions, however, showed a total attendance of only 30 of the 100 who had registered.

Forums Fall

Even the regular open forums, which continued when the study plan was dropped, have attracted few undergraduates, said Parzen. Older scholars and other interested people have made up the majority of the audiences.

Parzen stressed that "It's the College student whom we are trying to serve. No matter how much he learns about world affairs from his regular studies, he is presumptuous in thinking that he can gain nothing from exposure to fresh viewpoints."