DIVERSION

At least one of the features that makes Harvard an intellectually stimulating college persists in the Summer School. A variety of programs, lectures, concerts, and entertainment lighten the summer, and this year more than ever before diversion of a high calibre has been brought to students without expense.

The series of talks on scientific progress has proved most popular and appropriate, and the speakers have been uniformly excellent. The recitals by Mr. Phelps in the Memorial Church have permitted many music lovers to hear an organist who has a rare talent, even if some still complain about the acoustics. The George Washington program, and the lectures by Mr. Conant, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Cherrington have been varied in appeal and authoritative. Along other lines the industrial and historical excursions under the direction of G. S. Miller have given students, who would not have initiative to explore for themselves, the opportunity of seeing industrial processes and points of historical or literary importance which should have a definite place in every education.

In a day when increasing emphasis is being put upon classroom studies at Harvard because of the House Plan and the recent depression, it is encouraging to see that educators also believe a great amount of learing can be acquired in less formal ways. During the college year there are innummerable economics groups, language conferences, special lecture chairs, and musicals which are not usually given their deserved place in education. But although they are often popularized by dilletantes, they add allure and culture to knowledge, and are in a great measure responsible for the atmosphere of learning that makes Harvard and Cambridge quietly academic.