Divinity Students May Soon Take Psychology Tests

Divinity students may soon undergo psychology tests during the first year of residence, according to a tentative plan of the Divinity School's Admissions Committee.

The tests would be designed to "catch potential troubles" in the new Divinity students, Admissions Director John P. Dillenberger, associate professor of Theology, said yesterday.

Dillenberger added that such examinations would be nothing unusual at a divinity school since almost all Episcopal seminaries require them. The Union Theological Seminary and the Yale Divinity School also offer extensive counseling service and keep a psychiatrist on their faculty.

Earlier, the Divinity School student publication, The Scribe, had condemned the psychology test plan as a "trend toward conformity." The Scribe's editor, John Mr. Coffee, charged that the tests "would indicate that many who now are able to become theological students are 'maladjusted,' and hence unfit for the ministry."

The mimeographed editorial also stated that psychological examinations were usually "so arranged that unless the majority of choices are in the 'pietistic' vein, it is deemed that the man's aptitude lies in another field."