Education itself is meaningful only in relation to the economic and social conditions of its times. It is all too easy to acquire a sideline attitude toward crucial issues, to become satisfied with intellectual speculation, and to hold one‘s self aloof from the realities of social and political activity. Social problems take on new meaning in practical application. To substitute vigorous activity in the place of academic neutrality in public affairs, New College students are urged to go beyond academic discussion to participation in social and political movements, each in accordance with their own convictions. Students are preparing not only to be teachers in a narrow sense, but to be active participants in the community in which they will work and able to assume educational leadership.
-- New College Catalogue, 1936