Haverford College - Record Yearbook (Haverford, PA)

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ment of at least two members, than of only one. It also would stimulate faculty members intellect- ually if they had colleagues in their own field with whom they could talk. Diversity of approach within the same discipline, which is possible with more persons in a department, would also be to the students ' and the College ' s advantage. Further- more, growth of the College which would permit growth of the faculty would provide a greater breadth of educational program, particularly within new areas of knowledge. Many upper level classes with a minimum number of students would be improved by more students. In larger classes where more students would adversely affect the quality of teaching, new sections would be pro- vided. Furthermore, it seems clear that a larger student body does not necessarily mean the abandoment by the College of its objective of stressing the importance of the individual. In fact, I am convinced that the plan to develop two separate living areas as the College expands in size will result in greater emphasis on the individual. While being a member of a larger whole, each student will also be a member of a smaller, com- pact unit. The Board of Managers agreed that ex- pansion should take place by developing two such living areas and should not exceed the rate at which such accommodations could be built and plans developed for the absorption of the new students into the College as a whole. The Board further specified that expansion should not exceed the supply of mature and effec- tive students nor the rate at which an adequate number of able faculty could be obtained and the required facilities and operating expenses satis- factorily financed. If sufficient finances are not available to reach this goal in the period specified, expansion could be temporarily halted along the way. Assuming, therefore, that expansion will im- prove the quality of Haverford in the future, what are some of its other aims and objectives and prob- able trends ? Haverford College tomorrow, as today, will have as its basic aim helping its students to become men of high character, sound learning and deep integrity, motivated by a spirit of service and with courage in the right in accord- ance with the Inner Light that is in every man. It will offer an education that is liberal in the sense that it frees its participants from any pre- judice in which ignorance or too great specializa- tion may imprison them. As part of this liberaliz- ing education it will expect its students to be famil- iar with each of the three main branches of knowledge - the humanities, the social sciences and the natural sciences, and to become familiar with significant elements of some non-Western culture. I would expect the Haverford of tomorrow to adopt the thesis of the Committee on The Col- lege and World Affairs, on which I have been serving, that liberal learning must include study of the varying and constantly changing cultural conditions of men, especially in other cultures than our own, and that the similarities and con- trasts thus revealed will illuminate the nature of our own society and help us to understand better both ourselves and others. While the recent building program has em- phasized new facilities for the sciences, this does not mean that the College has adopted a policy of strengthening the sciences at the expense of the social sciences and the humanities. In fact, the appointment of a special Board Committee to consider ways and means of improving and en- larging the Library indicates a deep interest in the latter two branches of knowledge. In the Haverford of tomorrow I would antici- pate greater emphasis on special programs for individual students and more flexibility in the requirements for graduates. A student may have a greater number of possibilities of enriching his normal academic program through such things as an honors thesis program or interdepartmental honors. Other students may find it possible to graduate in less than eight semesters because of advanced placement credits, summer work or both. Likewise, I anticipate a liberalization of credit for off-campus experiences either at other institutions in this country or abroad or in such activities as the Peace Corps. I would also expect an increase in coordination and cooperation of academic and non-academic activities with Swarth- more and Bryn Mawr. Finally, as in the past, I am sure the curricular offerings in all of the departments will reflect the improved preparation of our undergraduates, the impact of new areas of knowledge and the constantly shifting emphasis within the various disciplines. For example, the addition of an elec- tron-microscopist to our Biology Department next year recognizes the significance of this new area of knowledge. The development of a new course in numerical methods for students in engineering and the sciences will take advantage of the com- puter laboratory and make extensive use of its equipment. In the final analysis, the motto on Haverford ' s seal is still the goal of Haverford of tomorrow: Not more learned but imbued with a better learning. Hugh Borton President Haverford College 13

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