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President Pusey has called upon Harvard alumni to support the most ambitious fund-raising campaign ever to be carried on by Harvard College, or, for that matter, by any educational institution in the world.
In a special report delivered Oct. 8 to the Board of Overseers and released to the CRIMSON last night Pusey did not mention the exact figure he is seeking in the drive--to be called "A Program for Harvard College"--but it is known that the figure will be in excess of $40 million, and probably more than twice that sum.
For the past half year, Pusey has constantly emphasized the growing needs of Harvard College, but it is only in this latest report that he calls for an active drive by the alumni.
"We know the College, as the heart of the University, cannot hope to continue to provide a strong intellectual life for its students and to contribute to human welfare in future generations," Pusey said, "if the present generation of Harvard men does not promptly and determinedly provide the necessary resources to go forward."
Drive to Begin Next Year
It was learned yesterday that the drive, headed by Alexander M. White '25, will get under way officially early next year.
As Pusey told the annual meeting of Associated Harvard Clubs last April, the College "urgently" needs additional Houses. "Approximately 1200 more students live in the existing facilities than they were built to accommodate," he said in the report.
"One House immediately, two more as quickly as they can be had, and as well, increased dormitory space for freshmen, are required to resolve this critical situation," he continued. "In my judgment these are minimum requirements if we are to return to the best educational use of the House system."
Calling for a closer integration of faculty members and students, Pusey said "for many years, forces have been slowly at work moving the members of the University faculties away from Cambridge. . . . To reverse this trend, to re-establish a community of learning, apartment dwellings must be built for those students (some of them undergraduates) and younger members of the faculties who are married and have families."
Better Office Facilities Sought
In addition, he asked for better facilities for the Chemistry Department, the Astronomy Department, and the Department of Social Relations, "a growing field which has been of increasing importance to undergraduates during the past decade."
He pointed to the "lack of faculty offices and studies, and of rooms for small classes." And he said the need, "possibly overshadowing all others academically, is for increased endowment for the library."
In addition, Pusey reiterated the "long-standing need for a theater and for increased facilities for the study of art." And he said a new "centrally located health center for Radcliffe and Harvard" may be "the most crying need of all."
Because of the recent fire, Pusey said "we may have to find an appropriate replacement" for Memorial Hall "which would still preserve its memorial quality."
Asks Increased Faculty Salaries
Last April, Pusey said the building needs alone came to $40 million. But in his report he makes additional requests for increased faculty salaries, and for more endowments to aid the scholarship and fellowship programs. "The Harvard professor is a poorer man today than he has been for generations," Pusey said. "Harvard salaries no longer enjoy the kind of unchallenged lead they once had."
In addition to the money for scholarships and fellowships, Pusey said endowment should be secured for the athletic program, which "spends about $600,000 of unrestricted income" yearly.
Figuring approximately a million dollars a year for salary increases, and another million for the other purposes listed, endowment in the neighborhood of $40 million would be needed--which, added to the $40 million for buildings, would make the goal at least $80 million
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