Brown Takes the Man

By last week, six million World War II veterans had applied for education and training under the G.I. Bill of Rights.

Most people think of college when they think of the G.I. Bill, but thousands of the veterans were doing their "studying" on the job in factories, and thousands more had gone back to high school. There was still another vast group of G.I.s who had found themselves adrift in the deep--too old to go back to high school, anxious for college training but not sufficiently schooled.

For these betwixt-&-betweeners, Brown University was doing its best last week. At Providence, R.I., it had set up a new Veterans College, where 437 ex-G.I.s and eight women who could not meet regular admissions standards were getting a crack at a college education anyway. Some of them had never finished high school, others had barely skidded through with less than the customary 15 college-entrance units. Most of them had applied to a university and been turned down flat.

Veterans College was betting that they would make good. Explained Director Jim Cunningham, 28, an ex-Marine pilot and Brown graduate himself: "We take the man in preference to the record." Among the men taken: a professional boxer, a milkman, a general's son.

Not until the university's regular class day is done does Veterans College begin. By 10:30 p.m., when the special session ends, the double-timing Brown instructors who teach it are usually a pale shade of grey. V.C. students, who cannot join fraternities or compete for varsity teams, hit the books hard, with President Henry M. Wriston's warning in their ears: "This is not a Government gravy train."

All V.C. students are freshmen, ranging in age from 20 to 38. They have two years to prove themselves capable of regular university work, but may be transferred (with full credit) to Brown at the end of any semester. One-third of the original enrollment has already earned the right to make the jump.

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