1. What lessons from Haverford do you carry with you, still?
When I was at Haverford, the English Department instituted the "Death List," a list of forbidden grammatical errors, along with corresponding point deductions from the papers of those who committed them. Originally begun by Mr. George Miller as the "Sudden Death List," which brought automatic failure to those who had even one such offensive breach of the language, it was later softened but could still turn a relatively successful enterprise into a near-failing disappointment. One misstep on the list was the split infinitive. Years after my graduation from Haverford, I came upon an op-ed piece in The New York Times calling for an end to the consideration of the split infinitive as a grammatical crime. I clipped the piece and mailed it to former English Department head Mr. Ed Hallowell with a simple note: "I demand reparations!" Although he was cheered by the missive's spirit, he was intractable. "Absolutely not!" was his reply. To this day, I deduct points from my Villanova students who commit the transgression.
