Council Reports

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

The Student Council report on athletics is a direct attempt to remedy ills in Harvard's athletic plant. IT IS NOT AN ATTACK ON THE COACHING. The introduction to the report describes how it was written. All sorts of gripes were collected. Some of these, the report calls "petty," "vague and general," and "unfair." The comment on coaching was merely one of these gripes. As we say, "Some men complained of the coaching, calling it 'impersonal and inadequate.'" We did not pass judgment on this charge; perhaps we should have omitted it altogether.

The report makes four constructive suggestions to meet four basic problems. These suggestions have been welcomed by players, coaches, administration, and alumni. It is still hard for us to understand why the press soft-pedalled this and sensationalized a comment we did not even make. We should know better by now.

We are interested only in improving Harvard athletics. In no way do we wish to slight the coaches. If the press treatment of our report has embarrassed Mr. Jordan, we sincerely apologize. Richard M. Sandier '52   President, Student Council

The Council report states: "That there is resentment and bitterness is beyond a shadow of a doubt. Some of it is vague and general and some of it may be unfair, but, for the most part, this antagonism is specific and very real." Dissatisfaction with coaching was cited in the report as one of the factors behind the "resentment and bitterness" and there was no indication that this dissatisfaction was limited to a small number of athletes. Therefore it is hardly surprising that the charge, which could be more easily personalized than other charges, was picked up and magnified.