So much emphasis is ordinarily laid upon intercollegiate athletics as a means of bringing colleges together, that one is tempted to overlook the quieter, more informal opportunities for contact. Newspaper headlines and brass bands blind the eye and dull the ear to all but the most spectacular events. And there is certainly nothing spectacular about a meeting of thirteen deans unless it be good material for the nightmare of a dropped Freshman.

Lacking in news value and human interest though a convention of deans may be, it no doubt offers more real opportunity for interchange of ideas and the promotion of friendship than many a football classic or track meet. Much of present day college administration centers in the dean's office, and it is here that most measures which directly affect the student body have their origin. Anything, therefore, which brings the occupants of these key positions together ought also to result in a closer coordination of the aims and methods of the colleges involved. During today and tomorrow Harvard has the privilege and the responsibility of playing host to a gathering which has unique potentialities for influencing eastern college life.