In Summary

From its vantage point at one of the myriad corners of a shrinking "hub," the CRIMSON has an excellent view of occurrences both in its own backyard and in the world at large. During the year, its editors, by taking a long view of the former and a dim view of the latter, comment on both. For the benefit of alumni and anyone else who may be interested, it presents here the high points of its year's editorial policies.

Fall, 1953, brought with it a new President, a man vitally interested in the part religion should play in the life of a person and a university. Commenting on the drive for Divinity School funds and the much discussed "revival of religion," the CRIMSON said on October 14:

"The only two characteristic of religion plainly alien to education at a non-denominational University are compulsion and sectarianism. Compulsion negates the right to be indifferent, a fundamental right in religious matters, and sectarianism bars those who have an interest from access to the fullest range of religious ideas....

"But when religion is stripped of these two features, when emphasis is placed instead upon the rich heritage of thought and value common to all sects, religion can be as much an intellectual discipline as law or mathematics, as much a rationally defensible belief as Freudianism or economic determinism...."

Scarcely a month later, Professor Wendell H. Furry was summoned by the McCarthy committee to testify in New York. After the hearings, McCarthy called the University a "smelly mess" and said it was filled with Communists. Citing the fact that McCarthy had not ever named anyone at Harvard who is a Communist, the CRIMSON, in an editorial entitled "McCarthy: Put Up or Shut Up," said:

".... McCarthy's charge, if true, becomes perhaps the greatest untruth he has ever spoken....

"It is therefore incumbent upon the Senator actually to name the professor of professors who are Communists and to whom Harvard students are exposed. Unless he can do so, he will be admitting to the nation that he has consciously slandered a University which is contributing at least as much to the world's fight against Communism as McCarthy himself."

Later, discussing the use of the Fifth Amendment and the effect it has played in the hearings, the paper advocated compulsory testimony, with witnesses protected by an immunity bill.

In the spring, the most critical situation in domestic or international affairs was the struggle for Indo-China. Considering the prospect of U.S. intervention, the CRIMSON said on April 29:

"... For this reason, the United States has only one possible course of action; all possible aid short of actual intervention should be given, and the U.S. must be prepared to enter the war if all other efforts to reach a peaceful settlement fall....

"... War is a risk the United States must take. The only alternative to this risk is Communist control of Southeast Asia."

In academic matters, the year's most significant development was a far-reaching program for advanced admission and advanced standing passed by the Faculty. Approving the plan, the CRIMSON said:

"... In this era where mere factual knowledge frequently serves as an index of intelligence, the University has symbolized the broad intellectual maturation that learning should be.

"The Educational Policy Committee's new plan for a wide system of advanced standing and placement continues this tradition. The proposals fall only where they tend to make education a three-year process by providing for the admission of certain students as sophomores."