THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



3°7 



THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



THE ACADEMIC SITUATION. 



Scarcely a mouth passes without the 

 occurrence of one or more events dis- 

 quieting to those who would make our 

 universities the homes of scientific re- 

 search, creative scholarship and social 

 progress. Such circumstances do not 

 usually become known, for it is to the 

 private advantage of those concerned 

 that they be hushed. Strange as it 

 may seem at first sight, the state uni- 

 versities are on the whole making prog- 

 ress in the direction of greater aca- 

 demic freedom and dignity, while the 

 private corporations tend to exhibit the 

 reactionary tendencies of their boards 

 and administrative officers. If, how- 

 ever, the people learn the importance 

 to the nation of maintaining their uni- 

 versities on a high plane, all is well. 

 It is easy to tax corporations which 

 become antisocial into innocuousness. 

 Indeed each university will find its own 

 level by its own weight. Harvard and 

 Columbia are still our richest institu- 

 tions and probably still maintain their 

 leadership in advanced work and public 

 service ; but they are losing ground 

 relatively to the state universities and 

 perhaps even in comparison with their 

 own positions ten years ago. It would 

 surprise most people to see the list of 

 those who have recently declined to 

 consider chairs at these two universities. 



It is the high traditions of Harvard 

 which give significance to the curious 

 circular recently sent from the con- 

 troller's office to those whom one uni- 

 versity president habitually calls "the 

 instructional force." The circular is 

 accompanied by four large pages of 

 instructions and a schedule containing 

 some 180 blank spaces to be filled and 

 is couched in jargon about "prorating 

 salaries to the various classified func- 

 tions," and the like. The professors 

 and instructors are informed that 



(2a X 3a) + (26 X Sb) -f (2c X 3c) + 

 (2d X 3d) + (2e X 3e) = total hours 

 of regular exercises per course. 

 They are told that 



Preparation for lectures should in- 

 clude only that time which was taken 

 during the half-year for lectures deliv- 

 ered in this period. It should not in- 

 clude time spent in the general collec- 

 tion of materials. 



Surely the only correct answer to the 

 question how many hours a day a pro- 

 fessor spends on his work and in prep- 

 aration is twenty-four. This circular 

 was naturally resented by members of 

 the faculty and was partially, but 

 somewhat grudgingly, withdrawn, the 

 president stating that it was ' ' issued 

 under a misunderstanding, ' ' presuma- 

 bly a misunderstanding of the senti- 

 ments of the faculty. 



This Harvard incident is serio-comic. 

 At Wesleyan there has occurred within 

 I the same past month a wholly serious 

 breach of academic decency. The pro- 

 fessor of economics and social science, 

 who has served the university and the 

 public with distinction for twenty 

 years, made some remarks in regard 

 to the observance of the sabbath, which 

 found their way into the newspapers. 

 The president wrote inquiring whether 

 he was correctly reported, and on being 

 told what he had said, asked for his 

 resignation. This was promptly sent, 

 and the president relieved him from his 

 duties at once. The five letters passed 

 in the same day, and the president 

 must have acted without adequate con- 

 sultation or consideration. It is as ex- 

 traordinary as it is ominous that in our 

 present academic system the liberty of 

 speech of a professor and the fate of 

 his wife and children should be de- 

 pendent on the will of an official. In 

 this case the professor was speaking 

 within his own professional field, and 

 not even to students of the university 



