Word: mcarthur
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...McArthur qualifies his generalizations by saying that there are not enough facts to be entirely sure of his position. "If all these facts were cross-verified, I might be all wrong," he frankly admits. "My description does not even apply to all of those who voluntarily leave. My ideas represent an over-simplified syndrome, the quintessence of the behavior pattern," he adds...
More than any other University official, however, McArthur has formed an interesting and developed description of people who voluntarily leave Harvard. "These people don't come to anyone's attention while they're at Harvard; they're neutral and don't offend anyone. They never give the impression of being in trouble; always being sunny and affable; when they do leave, even their roommates are usually surprised." The life of these people, McArthur thinks, is somewhat vegetable-like. "My guess is that they probably don't get up for breakfast and are apt to cut a lot of classes. These...
...problem of explaining why some students leave Harvard is almost an impossible one. "My guess," McArthur says, "is that a lot of these guys have prior business, sometimes within themselves. Sometimes this prior business is in the old neighborhood; they suffer from 'anomie' in coming from one culture to another. One person I knew who left used to commute back to the Bronx every weekend 'to see real people.' The cultural difference between Massachusetts and New Mexico is astonishing. Many people leave because they feel that they must touch home base. They don't want...
...Perhaps the basic answer", McArthur concludes, "is that the person who leaves really does not feel that college is a normal thing to do. What they really want to gain by leaving is a complete adult status...
...Administrative people who come into contact with those leaving largely find that they cannot make generalizations about the type. This would seem to indicate that even if the psychiatrists' description of the people leaving is largely correct, it is certainly incomplete. Drs. Blaine and McArthur would be the first to admit this. Most University administrators coming into contact with people leaving feel that the decision to do so results from a feeling of lack of purpose and direction at Harvard...