Bender, Elder Note Disagreement With Conant Report on Education

Wilbur J. Bender '27, former Dean of Admissions, said last night he was surprised by James Bryant Conant's assertion that "prestige colleges" such as Harvard should concentrate on preparing students for graduate and professional schools.

J. Petersen Elder, Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, flatly disagreed with Conant's position. "Harvard should certainly not become a preparatory school for graduate school," Elder said.

Conant, President Emeritus of the University, maintained in his recently published book, Slums and Suburbs: A Commentary on Schools in Metropolitan Areas, that "the prestige colleges should be seen as institutions for very bright students, the majority of whom will go to graduate schools for advanced degrees."

The book also suggested that students without the required graduate school talents and professional aims might be discouraged from applying to prestige colleges.

In his final report, Bender spoke out against "academic elitism," calling for a Harvard with some students "who aren't brilliant or leaders, who are just plain, ordinary, decent, uncomplicated human beings . . . to provide a human scale in this community of supermen."

Bender, who returned to Harvard in 1945 and was named Dean of Admissions by Conant in 1952, said that during Conant's term, "I saw no indication of anything but a tremendous concern for the College in the traditional terms--as a separate entity, as a liberal arts college whose concern was not professional education." He added, though, that there was little discussion then of the College's character.

Conant's work with General Education, Bender said, was an indication of the President's interest in the College. But he noted, "you could make a case that General Education, as Conant conceived it, was a part of preparation for going on to graduate school."

"At that time he thought of admissions issues very much in the terms that were implied in my final report," Bender said. But, Bender pointed out, there was less reason to be concerned about selective admissions in the early Fifties than there is today.

"I think the purpose of the College should be to train people for all matters and varieties of careers, whether in the Federal government, or as President of the United States, or as keeper of a zoo for rarefied animals," Elder said.

He observed that the College had already nearly reached the goal Conant outlined for it, and cited studies showing that more than 80 per cent of the members of recent Senior classes intended to go on to graduate schools. "In my opinion, this is too bad," Elder said.

"I care more about Harvard College than I do about the graduate school," he remarked.