President Conant and the Corporation are again faced with the problem of expressing their disapproval of the Nazi influence upon German universities and at the same time their sympathy with those members of the universities who are still doing good work under the handicaps of rigorous governmental control. Heidelberg University has just sent Harvard an invitation to participate in the celebration of its 550th anniversity this June, and at the Corporation meeting today it is probable that the reply will be discussed.

A similar invitation has been received by prominent universities all over the world, including several American colleges. Vassar, Columbia, Michigan, Cornell, and Western Reserve have already accepted, according to the Nazi press, but the authorities at Yale, and Princeton deny any knowledge of such an invitation.

British Universities Refuse

Of the British Universities which have already answered the invitation not a single one has accepted. Pains have been taken to point out that while Heidelberg itself as an institution has the sympathy of scholars, the British universities do not feel capable of participating in a celebration which is taking place in a institution so directly under the control of the Nazi party.

What would normally be a routine matter involving no more than the practical question of whether or not Harvard would have an eligible professor in Germany during the time of the celebration has been complicated by two factors. First, Harvard has already asked Heidelberg to participate in its own 300th anniversary next fall. Second, there is the question of the political implications of the date chosen for the cel- ebration.

Heidelberg terms the occasion the 550th birthday of the University, but according to "Nature", authoritative British scientific journal, this spring will not be the 550 anniversary but the 549th. "Nature" bases its calculations on the charter in the British Museum, which was issued by Pope Urban VI on October 23, 1385. Unless this original source is misleading, the celebration will be one year less than the five and a half century mark.

The dates June 27 to 30 inclusive have nothing to do with the history of Heidelberg, says "Nature", and explanation for this choice lies in the fact that this is the anniversary of the Nazi purge in 1934. Since 1933, 44 professors have been dismissed from Heidelberg by the National Socialist Party on grounds of race, religion or politics