ABSTRACT
To many university teachers, their new students are a daunting challenge. They welcome them as an ascetic welcomes his hair shirt—to chasten the academic spirit, and prod it to inspire ever more unreceptive minds. Both in arts and science one would be deceiving oneself if one believed that the majority really came to university either with strong cultural yearnings or strong professional vocations. The Tutor of Balliol speaks single-mindedly as a scholar: the students, too, were influenced by the unworldly context of academic culture. Most of the students, at both Northampton College and the universities, wanted their studies to be at least indirectly relevant to their careers. They sought a workable compromise between their cultural interests, the requirement of an efficient training, and the intellectual excitement that advanced study can afford. Though the desire to broaden their studies was widespread, the students appreciated the difficulties.
