Many students returning from the War say they felt a responsibility to abate the suffering they had witnessed.

So while many participated in the emerging student activities on campus, others looked outward. One group started the Harvard Relief Fund to raise money for students overseas who were in dire straits after the destruction of the past six years.

Radcliffe students pitched in, sponsoring a clothing drive and blood bank to "increase [the College's] awareness of the local and world communities which surround it by actively participating in them," says Georgette Haigh '49.

By the same token, the University stopped serving meat on Tuesday and poultry and eggs on Thursday while rationing for the Marshall Plan.

President James B. Conant '14 reflected the humanitarian attitudes of the time in his commitment to international relations, nuclear research and freedom.

Conant saw his role as redefining Harvard as apractical research institution, broadening itsscope as it emerged from an intense focus on theWar effort.

Harvard was "about in the middle of thetransitional period, a transition from war topeace," Conant said in an address to the studentbody.

Responding to America's fear of communism inthe late '40s and the emerging threat of nuclearwar with the Soviet Union, the University equippedits nuclear laboratory with a new cyclotron and"atom smasher."

Conant strongly opposed the highlycontroversial Barnes Bill, which excluded allcommunists from Massachusetts secondary schoolsand universities.

Students became involved in the struggle overthe bill as well, lobbying officials andprotesting on campus. (Please see story, pageB-7.)

And although several undergraduates formed theunofficial Apathy League in 1948--"passivelyopposing everything, including passiveresistance"--the campus became embroiled inintense discussions on the way to honor theUniversity's students killed in battle.

In November 1947, the Alumni War MemorialCommittee advocated using funds to coordinate atribute within Memorial Church and a studentscholarship fund.

Others hoped the money could subsidize amedical facility or a student activities centercommemorating the deceased.

Beyond Serious

Students argued that a student center wasnecessary to house the burgeoning socialactivities on campus.

Dedicating both funds and fervor toinvigorating student life, undergraduates plungedback into College life in 1947.