SIR,—It would be hard to imagine a more concen- trated
amalgam of false assumptions and half-baked proposals than John Margeson's piece, 'Emergency University.' He is convinced, apparently, that the true nature of a university is so well understood in Britain that in any n,ew foundation 'the tradition would assert itself almost automatically.' Yet what is this nature? Ask a dozen dons and one would receive as many different interpretations. Examine existing universities, new and old : one characteristic they share is that they are organic, having been carefully nurtured from small beginnings. No uni- versity worthy of the name can be thrown together overnight in the manner he suggests, any more than Colleges of Advanced Technology can become uni- versities merely by a change in their official title and the addition of a few non-technical faculties.
It is possible to argue that more people have the potential to benefit from a university education than are likely to enjoy it in the next decade; it is mere hysteria to cry of a 'lost generation of uni- versity students,' and to propose a jerry-built bra's-, factory to house them.
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