Divinity School Expects To Grow, Horton Says

Divinity School enrollment, which has increased steadily in the past three years, may exceed next year's projected goal of three hundred students, Dean Douglas Horton announced yesterday. He also outlined new plans for a dormitory to house the incoming students.

Because of the rise in enrollment, Horton said, "we definitely need a new building." Last year at this time, there were 162 students in the School, and this year there are 226, but only 30 of these can live in the Andover Hall dormitory. A new addition will probably be built, Horton added, to house 75 married and unmarried students.

The expansion is part of the overall plan to establish at the University "a center of religious learning." This program was first set forth in 1952 when President Conant, emeritus, announced a campaign to raise $5 million for the School. President Pusey reaffirmed the policy in his convocation address to the School in 1953. Since then, the size of the student body has almost doubled.

Funds for New Building

The drive for Divinity School funds has reached $3,610,000, Horton reported, and will probably be at $4 million by the end of December. The present total includes a $250,000 bequest from the late Mrs. Thomas W. Lamont whic his contingent upon the School receiving $4 million by December 23, 1955. Some of the money has been specifically donated for a new building, but Horton said that the one million dollars needed for a new wing has not been realized.

The wing is expected to match the wing on the north side of Andover which now houses the library. The idea of such an extension originated when Andover was built in 1911. The School then planned a south wing but the campaign to raise money was unsuccessful. At that time, the enrollment was 39.