Universities must not become just another special interest group in the fight for public funds. Carl Keysen told a small audience at the Cambridge Forum last night.

David W. Skinner Professor of Political Economy at MIT, predicted a period of difficult transition for universities over the next fifteen years with a decline in the student population and an increasingly "neo-military" political atmosphere throughout the country.

Universities suffer from cuts under the Reagan administration Keysen said, but added, "Maybe it is good for universities to be a little distant from the government." Universities must not become too timid to join the church and the press in upholding a standard of moral conscience, he said.

The 50 most prestigious universities and mass educational institutions in urban areas will survive the transition period, but the 900 or so small liberal arts colleges in small towns are in danger Keysen said.