University to Grant English Ph.D. Degrees

Doctoral candidates in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will receive simplified diplomas, written in English for the first time in the history of the University, upon graduation this year.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences has approved a motion made by Francis M. Rogers, Dean of the School, to eliminate the names of so-called "special fields" on all future Ph.D. diplomas.

The Faculty also decided by a narrow margin a recommendation made by the President's Committee on Seals, Arms and Diplomas that henceforth all Ph.D diplomas be done in English and not in Latin. This motion, which still must gain Corporation sanction, is expected to be fully approved in time for this year's graduating class.

Only Subject to Be Named

In the past, diplomas has designated both the "subject" and "special field" in which a doctoral candidate had studied. Now, they will name only the "subject," such as Chemistry or History.

At the same time, the list of possible "subjects" will be expanded to include various areas, such as Classical Philogy and Classical Archaeology in the place of Classics. Also, The History and Principles of Fine Arts will be changed simply to Fine Arts, and the designation The Medical Sciences will be replaced with Anatomy, Bacteriology, and other more specific "subjects."

The Committee on Seals and Diplomas, which included Dean Bundy, Samuel E. Morison '08 , Jonathan Trumbull Professor of American History, David W. Bailey '21, Secretary to the Corporation, and Mason Hammond '25, Pope Professor of Latin Language and Literature, offered an explanatory note on its recommendation of changing the wording into English.

No Latin Claim

The Committee stated that it is "of the belief that the Ph.D. degree, as a creation of the nineteenth century, does not historically have a true claim to the Latin tongue."

The motion to change the Ph.D. diploma does not involve changes in College and Masters degree diplomas, the committee pointed out.