FESTIVAL?

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

I am writing in the hope of correcting an erroneous impression created by your editorial of February 20th concerning the Cambridge Drama Festival.

Two of the three faculty members accused in that editorial of "carping criticism" are away from Harvard this semester. Of those two, Professor Brower has been abroad all year and has had no part in the matters discussed in your editorial--a fact which your writer might have taken the trouble to ascertain before making his accusation.

Your editorial writer remarks that "professors Levin, Chapman and Brower ... have appointed themselves unofficial ministers to the board of trustees, and have taken upon their shoulders the work of keeping Cambridge drama clean." This is inaccurate: professors Levin, Brower and I are members of the board of trustees, not self-appointed "ministers"; we are only three of a total board of nine which acts unanimously in all important decisions. Your editorial writer did not, I am told, consult any one of the members of the board. Since your editorial purported to be based on matters of fact, it would seem that an effort to ascertain the facts in issue would have been appropriate.

Every member of the board takes pride in the general excellence of the first year of the Cambridge Drama Festival. We are not unreasonably pleased with that achievement, however, and can see room for improvement in future, should circumstances make the continuance of the Festival possible. As members of the board, professors Levin, Brower and I are anxious for the financial as well as for the artistic success of the Festival. We do not like to be blamed for the failure of a cause we have done our best to further. Robert Chapman,   Associate Professor of English.

The CRIMSON editorial of February 20 stated that while the professors' high aesthetic standards are admirable, they would result in financial failure for the Cambridge Drama Festival, a self-supporting organization.--Ed.