A Good Thing

More than uncritical jubilation should greet the news that men in upperclass courses will be freed from mid-term grades and monitors next fall. The faculty vote of last week eliminating compulsory November and April marks and required attendance for all courses "primarily for Juniors and Seniors" does allow for simple relief or joy as a reaction, but it should also be applauded on two other, more important levels.

The Faculty's decision on the question of midterm grade requirements came only after extended study of the problem by a Student Council committee. That the Provost and the Faculty withheld its final vote until all of the Council committee's evidence had been gathered and presented is an encouraging sign of faculty confidence in and co-operation with the Council. In the same way, the fact that the Facnity acted on the attendance question soon after the first expressions of student opinion on the subject is a progressive token.

Beyond the method of their consideration, the two changes adopted last week are commendable in their content. Both indicate a return from wartime paternalistic tendencies to the traditional independence and responsibility of the student in Harvard College.