For more than two centuries, we are told, Harvard was the nursery of statesmen.

In 1776, more than twice as many signers of the Declaration of Independence were Harvard graduates than were graduates of any other school. In 1963, more congressional representatives had been educated at Harvard than at Yale and Columbia--the runners-up--combined.

Graduates from the '50s, '60s, and even the '70s remember an exodus to Washington, D.C. every June, as newly-minted Harvard B.A.'s flocked to Capitol Hill and various government agencies. The College was a major conduit for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), while public figures as varied as John F. Kennedy '40 and Ralph Nader (Harvard Law, 1958) surrounded themselves with bright, hopeful recent graduates.

Today, however, things are changing. Harvard may once have nurtured public men and women, but the number of students from the Class of 2000 who are heading to D.C. next year to begin political or governmental careers can be counted on the fingers of your hands--with maybe a few toes thrown in.

Even the students who dedicated themselves to politics during their undergraduate careers are forsaking Capitol Hill. Of the dozen or so seniors on the Student Advisory Committee (SAC) at the Kennedy School of Government's Institute of Politics (IOP), none will be taking government jobs next year.

Neither will the two former presidents of the Undergraduate Council who will graduate with the Class of 2000.

Apart from Harvard's plentiful crop of Truman scholars--who are obliged to take a governmental job in D.C. for the summer, at least--it's difficult to find anyone who'll be working inside the Beltway.

And this trend comes at a time when Washington is graying.