A few days ago the Harvard CRIMSON announced in bold type the fact that a gift of $3,000,000 by an anonymous donor was about to make possible "a radical experiment in undergraduate life" by the establishment of an inner college. The purpose of this innovation, as a residential unit, is to foster "within its walls those features of social and academic life which are left largely to chance in the present existence of upperclassmen at Harvard."

Having surveyed this experiment calmly, it can be seen that its radicalism is not as extreme as the first reports seemed to signify; and perhaps its lack of sheer radicalism will prove to be the most valuable element in giving it impetus and in sustaining it until its adaption to the present educational conditions has been completed. The trend has been unmistakably in the direction of splitting large educational bodies into smaller, more homogeneous groups; but the academic world is at present extremely leery, and rightfully so, of any attempt to graft the English system in force at Oxford and Cambridge on to our present institutions. American universities are sprung from a different conception of education and must meet the demands of men from far wider spheres and with far more varieties of interest. They must evolve their own adaptations to modern conditions....The experiment indicates above all else the fact that enough interest has been aroused, in the cause of a more modern and more effective. American education, to call forth a superb gift promoting its actual accomplishment. It is the thin edge of a wedge. If it can be utilized successfully it may finally be proved that the small college is far more effective. Yale News.