The reference was:
The Harvard Medical School rejected a demand by President Charles W. Eliot (in 1869) that medical students be given written examinations. "A majority of the students cannot write well enough," says the dean, but Eliot will elevate standards at the medical school. [Source]
Quote from the MS Bookshelf edition of The People's Chronology as licensed from Henry Holt and Company, Inc. Copyright © 1995, 1996 by James Trager. All rights reserved.