Cornell Faculty to Investigate Undergraduate Swimming Test

Cornell University's Faculty Council of Representatives will investigate Cornell's undergraduate swimming requirement to determine its origin and legality as a requirement for graduation, the Cornell Daily Sun reported this week.

The council will look into the legality of a requirement for graduation imposed by the physical education department but not explicitly approved by the Cornell faculty.

Robert B. Watson '37, Harvard director of Athletics, said yesterday that Harvard's swimming requirement is authorized by Faculty vote. "The Athletic Department simply administers the program," he said.

Watson said that the Harvard swimming test originated as part of a compulsory physical training curriculum required of freshmen beginning in 1919. The non-swimming parts of the requirement were dropped in 1970, he said, by a Faculty vote.

Less Stringent

Although students are still required to pass the swimming test before graduation, Watson said that enforcement has become less stringent since the late '60s. Watson said the Athletic Department routinely makes exceptions to the requirement for physical reasons, emotional reasons, and for students who make a sincere effort to learn how to swim.

Watson said that he did not know if anyone in recent years had been denied a degree simply because he had not passed the swimming requirement. He added that final enforcement responsibility rests with the Administrative Board.

George Putnam '49, treasurer of Harvard College, said that he knew of no gifts or bequests to Harvard that specify an undergraduate swimming test as a requirement.

Despite persistent rumor to the contrary, the 1913 trust agreement under which Mrs. George Widener agreed to build the Widener library makes no such demand.