Dualistic Cornell Mixes 'Practical,' 'Classical'; Limits Scope of Studies

In the first article of a 77 page red-bound collection of sketches and tributes on "Our Cornell," published by eight Cornell alumni for no other apparent reason than pure love for alma mater, E. B. White calls Ithaca the town "where Greek meets Indian." He is trying to express the dual nature of Cornell, as the link between ancient culture and contemporary living.

In the last article of the same book, Morris Bishop shows how the institution on Caynga's banks is always named at the end of a list of other colleges either Eastern "classical" colleges or Western "practical" ones--as . . . and perhaps Cornell." Bishop, too, was trying to express the dual nature of Cornell, by showing that it did not fit exactly any of the classifications of American colleges, but that it was always hypothetically included in all classifications because of its elements of simliarty to all.

Such a twin character was, in fact, the goal of the post Civil War educators who founded Cornell. One need merely look back into the "First General Announcement" of Cornell University, as published in 1868, to see that all instruction in the University was comprehended under two divisions. The division of "Special Sciences and Arts" included such vocational preparatory courses as agriculture, mechanic arts, civil engineering, and mining had practical geology. The division of Science, Literature, and the Arts in General" then took in the more liberal side--language, classical studies, and pure sciences.

Far more complex than its 1868 forebear, Cornell today is divided into numerous special colleges. And all but one of them are specialized--professional or vocational training places.

Restricted Curricula

The goals of liberal background are rather broached by the restricted curricula in these specialized colleges. In nearly all of them, notably engineering, the student is allowed no more than one course per year outside of his special field.

And, probably because of the emphasis on professional training throughout the large part of the university, even those students who remain in the unspecialized college of Arts and Sciences do not find the deep choice of liberal studies that is ordinarily available at a strictly liberal arts institution. A search through the modern catalog of courses reveals offerings from Greek Practice to Refrigeration, but the strength lies in the latter type of course. There is no course in Mongolian, nor is there a Seminar in Finnegan's Wake. But there is economics of the Household, and Tool Engineering.