Students reaction, however, is not so unanimously favorable. As one Senior, not in the program, puts it, "I can be either a racket or the most valuable thing at Yale." The program has received sharp criticism not only of its ideals and requirements, but also of its admissions policy and even its title.
Although "very impressive," the title "is both meaningless and misleading," one of the Scholars confesses. For neither is there a Scholar in each of the ten Yale colleges, nor are all of those in the program engaged in scholarship.
He added, "It is my feeling that frequently the entrance standards and the standards of performance are insufficiently high." Another student, not in the program, says that the committee "searches for the big names among undergraduates," citing Scott Sullivan, last year's chairman of the Yale Daily News as an example.
Called "worthless" by one of the group, the bi-weekly dinner meetings are also severely criticized. At these meetings, the group "degenerates into a kind of gentleman's club, a mutual admiration society." He says that there is "little intellectual meeting ground between the various academic disciplines," and that the criticisms of the readings are therefore not very helpful. This statement is the direct antithesis of Dean Devane's comment, "I suspect that the criticism from the fellow student is even more worthwhile than that from his elders."
The sharpest attacks against the program, however, are directed at two of its most vital aspects: whether the Scholars are mature enough to merit the tremendous amount of freedom which is suddenly given them, and whether it is actually worthwhile for bright college seniors to devote an entire year to a project and to preparation for an oral examination.
"Twenty-two is old enough to bear arms, vote, marry, and assume parenthood," says Sewall. "Common sense, and the evidence of the achievement of the Scholars denies the supposition that it is not old enough for this sort of independent work." Physically old