The currency of these names may reflect a desire on the part of both Corporation and Faculty to "save" the foundering University by more positively embodying the values of intellectual academic life in the person of a distinguished scholar/President.

The appointment of Professors Schlicter and Blum to the Corporation itself this year may both reflect this desire and give it further impetus. Thus the national figures most often discussed in the press as potential Presidents may finally be overlooked.

A crucial question for the Corporation will be whether to install a strong, outspoken leader like Yale's Kingman Brewster, or a more "corporate" figure. It is said that the last strongman President. Pusey's predecessor James L. Conant, was often at odds with the Corporation.

Another consideration will be the functional responsibilities of the new President. Will he be a fund-raiser, or primarily involved with the educational process itself? Or will the functions be in some way split between two men, one in a newly created post such as Chancellor?

Will the new president have a limited term of office, and will his tenure be subject to a review committee? More important, will any women be considered for the job?

Meanwhile, much energy has and will be used trying to convince students that they have an important voice and stake in who will run Harvard.