The individual quickly assumes to himself the superiority of the institution. With this view, it becomes difficult for the student to choose a career without worrying, for example, how it will look in the 25th Reunion class book--evaluating life in a way that belies a primarily humanistic outlook.

If a student cannot absorb what he has learned in the academic curriculum, and make it a part of his life, then, to a certain extent, his education has failed. It is of no use to know intellectually what is right if he does the opposite. Attitudes, ideals, and conduct are as much the measure of an education as the quality of the mind. To believe that discrimination on a racial or religious basis is ethically wrong, and then to become a member of a student organization or club which practices such discrimination is not only hypocritical, but also, in tacitly subscribing to the policy, an unethical action.

Harvard's Exemplary Role

With regard to ethics, the University is not confined to education by precept, but is rather forced into an exemplary role every time it acts officially. When President Pusey stood firm against the late Senator MacCarthy at a time when it was not yet fashionable to oppose the anti-communists, it was an object lesson which must surely have made a great impression on the students at the College. And when a distinguished professor was forced to resign in protest against Faculty politics, it also had an effect. The current problem of the N.D.E.A. funds presents a classic ethical problem in which principles of academic freedom may conflict with acute monetary needs. If the University is concerned for the moral education of its students, it must also be conscious of the consequences of its actions.

The foregoing discussion is not intended to constitute any sort of indictment of Harvard, nor is it meant to be a description of an "immoral" college. It is rather an inquiry into the educational aims of the College, to see whether they are as complete as they might be, or whether there is a certain amount of complacency concerning the efficacy of a Harvard education.

Visions of Greatness

It is not inconsistent to assume that while college students should be treated as adults, their moral education should be attended to more closely. The banishment of religion from the formal province of the university does not remove the responsibility for moral education; on the contrary, it makes the problem more difficult. President Pusey has asserted that these things cannot be taught. Nevertheless, an awareness and concern on the part of the College is necessary if they are to be learned.

Professor Demos quotes Whitehead in connecting moral education with "visions of greatness." At Harvard we have the opportunity to come into contact with greatness in many forms, through the curriculum, and through association with professors and students, some of whom may possess greatness in one way or another. We need to look for it, and to desire to see it. But we also need to learn how to recognize these visions, and how to transform them into experience that will have both beauty and meaning for our lives.