Pusey States Expansion Necessary in Education, But Asks for Teachers

WILLIAMSTOWN, Oct. 1--President Pusey reaffirmed his belief tonight that higher education must expand to meet the needs of increasing population. At the same time, however, he warned that unless enough outstanding teachers are produced to meet this rise, the quality of American education may suffer.

Criticizing those "thoughtful people who speak out against further expansion," he said, "Our troubles arise not because there are too many students but because there are too few outstanding teachers."

Pusey emphasized that unless efforts are made to increase the number of excellent teachers, the whole future of the liberal arts colleges might be jeopardized. "The most serious threat (to the liberal arts colleges) comes from the awful possibility," he said, "that in succeeding generations there may be too few of the kind of teacher who made the American liberal arts college something worth maintaining and extending."

Speaks at Williams

Pusey spoke tonight at a special convocation at Williams College in observance of the 200th anniversary of the death of Col. Ephraim Williams, the founder of the school. He also received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from James P. Baxter, president of Williams.

"It seems to me we should begin by recognizing realistically that we shall continue to grow, at least slowly, in the years ahead," he said, "as we have in the past, under the pressure of increased population. Also we should hope that there will come in time to be more colleges like Williams and Harvard."

In addition to the need for more teachers, Pusey warned that colleges are also threatened financially. "They need more money," he asserted, "than seems to be immediately forthcoming. Having lived through several periods of dearth, they are now about to be swamped by more students than they can handle.