Dean Laycock of Dartmouth has announced with a touch of pride that hereafter seniors at the college will be treated as "absolutely free men". He purposes "to recognize that a senior has presumably reached years of discretion and has learned to use careful judgment". He agrees to accede to the request of every senior who considers that he has a reasonable right to expect his petition to be granted.
Such is Dean Laycock's proposition; but what does it really amount to? It does not apply to college rooms, to regulations regarding college studies, and only partially to cuts. One is tempted to wonder, too, if a student can obtain all the desires of his heart merely by insisting that they are reasonable. At any rate, it seems that "abolutely free men" is a little too broad a phrase.
But it is too early to criticise. The proof of a ruling is in its application. This experiment is an attempt to make the senior feel his own responsibility. Perhaps it will solve for Dartmouth the difficult problem of balancing utter freedom with necessary restraint.
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Curtain Call
