THE GRANT STUDY

Last Friday the Hygiene Building witnessed an influx of famous medical men meeting to discuss the Grant Study. This psychological, biological, and sociological survey has been in progress for over a year in an attempt to discover the motivating forces of a cross-section of normal college students. Although the Study has been pooh-poohed by students, questioned by some of the faculty, the verdict of the distinguished assembly gave professional blessing to it.

For many years now there has been a definite trend towards personalizing Harvard education, a trend in which the Grant Study is the latest example. The tutorial system, the House Plan, the Board of Freshman Advisers are all part of this trend. But these examples are attempts to adapt the individual more nearly to the requirements of a Harvard education. With the advent of the Grant Study, a conscious attempt is being made for the first time in its history to adapt Harvard education to the undergraduate.

This adjustment will not come this year or next. It may never come. What is important about the Grant Study is that for the first time Harvard has taken cognizance of the need for more fully "educating" its students. Increasingly it becomes important that the student himself is the subject of education--from his curricular activities to his daily hygiene.

If the Study does have concrete results in indicating what makes various undergraduates tick, it does not mean that the College will further regulate the student's life. Rather the Dean's Office will be in a position to suggest a definite course of action for each individual which will make the most of his potentialities as indicated by the Study. For it is hoped eventually all incoming Freshmen will be thus tested.

Whether the aim of the Grant Study can be realized remains to be seen. The verdict of the distinguished gathering last week indicates that the hopes of the Hygiene Department may be fulfilled. In any event, the Study marks an important change in the approach to American university education.