November 17, 1957

The national “soul-searching,” as The New York Times put it, provoked by the Soviet Union’s launch of two satellites into earth orbit and the publication of a two-year survey by the Office of Education showing a serious lag in science education, led the newspaper to solicit comment from leading educators. President Blanding spoke for Vassar: “Traditional liberal arts colleges have consistently maintained that the well educated person has some familiarity with each of the great areas of knowledge. Therefore, Vassar requires study of both physical and biological sciences as well as the arts and humanities. The danger of imbalance is lessened when such curricular provisions prevail.”