Another Opening

Monday's announcement that an active campaign for funds has begun to build a University theatre, and the simultaneous report of President Pusey's enthusiastic support for the project, is welcome news not only to local theatre groups but to everyone interested in the development of Harvard. For, as Massachusetts Hall agrees, there are few demands among the University's many needs more important than a theatre which would act as a focus for undergraduate dramatic activity.

The need for a theatre has been a long-standing one, and undergraduate drama has suffered from lack of it. The facilities now available, Sanders Theatre, Pi Eta, Fogg Court and the like, are pitiful and have had much to do with the recent decline in both undergraduate theatrical activity and student interest. The new building will provide a strong stimulus to both these factors in the equation.

But it must be remembered that the building is still far from built. The fund drive has yet to be organized; even the committee to raise the funds is not definitely chosen. To be sure, the University's support of the drive, although it remains unofficial, is a big step forward, but the problem of money is still a considerable barrier. Over $50,000 has been raised in pledges, but a condition of the pledge prevents redeeming it until the entire amount is collected. The cost of the building is still undetermined, but $50,000 will be only a bare start.

Part of this barrier can be overcome by undergraduate support. Since the theatre is primarily a project designed to augment extra-curricular activity in the College, the student body should not remain aloof from the campaign. Undergraduates particularly interested in a theatre should form a committee to work on student fund drivers with Dean Bundy and John Mason Brown, leaders of the project.

We urge that all groups or individuals interested in being part of such a program begin work now. If the committees are soon formed and the money quickly raised, theatre can return with no further delay to its rightful place at Harvard.