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Nov. 5, 2008
Vol. 109, No. 4
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May I take issue with my friend Barksdale Maynard ’88’s characterization of Woodrow Wilson 1879’s quad plan as “a foolish, pet scheme” (feature, Sept. 24)? Though the idea of residential colleges may have been regarded as radical by certain influential men on the Board of Trustees in 1907, the college system began in the 13th century with Balliol at Oxford and Peterhouse at Cambridge; has operated with historic success from Utrecht to Hong Kong; and was adopted after its rejection at Princeton by Harvard and Yale. Exactly a century after he proposed it, Wilson is vindicated in the dedication on our campus of Whitman College, and we shall see in the fullness of time whether it is foolish in its conception or not.
Robert R. Cullinane ’70
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Robert R. Cullinane ’70
Princeton, N.J.
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Not-so-foolish idea
CURRENT ISSUE: Nov. 5, 2008
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