HAT Shakespeare remains a vital force in Midwestern America today is a truism which need not be labored. Although Midwesterners may look with longing to the frequent revivals of the plays on the New York stage and deplore the fact that too few road companies refresh their spirits with productions of Shakespeare, interest in the dramatist and his works transcends the mere academic. But with fewer Shakespeare plays on the road today and with the almost total eclipse of elocutionary readings as a medium of culture and entertainment, it has fallen more and more upon the colleges and universities to provide the intellectual and emotional sustenance which Shakespeare offers. It will be the burden of this report to show by example that the schools are meeting the challenge. It may be said that the vitality of Shakespeare is nurtured in the Middle West by the colleges and universities. The occasional road companies performing the plays today-such as the Barter Theater, which excels in ingenious staging and well-edited texts-are frequently sponsored by the schools of this area. Drama departments present the plays on the campuses. And Shakespeare courses hold their prominent place in the curricula of the English departments. At DePauw University, for example, the Shakespeare course rates as one of the best in the department and has one of the highest enrollments. DePauw, a co-educational school situated in Greencastle, Indiana, is largely an undergraduate institution; no pressure is put on its 1700 students to take the course in Shakespeare, and the English majors are not preparing for degree-examinations which would require detailed knowledge of the plays. Shakespeare is an elective course, and students in gratifying numbers elect to take it. One of the active campus organizations, the Shakespeare Club, grew out of this course and keeps its roots in it. It is made up entirely of students who are enthusiastic about the bard and anxious to express this enthusiasm by acting in plays, building model theaters, and in other ways showing their devotion to Shakespeare. A dinner and program celebrating Shakespeare's birthday has become a fixed item on the university calendar. Another Indiana school, again a small one, has led in the establishment of an annual Shakespeare Festival. This is Taylor University, a Methodist-supported school of approximately 500 enrollment at Upland, Indiana. Here the