CLARIFIES HLU STAND

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

The HLU's position in the Academic Freedom controversy has been so unfairly and incompletely reported that we would like to make it clear. Contrary to the CRIMSON article of Tuesday, March 24, the HLU has as yet taken no part in the organization or deliberations of the Combined University Students' Committee. Further, the CRIMSON's slight misquotation of our statement Wednesday left it extremely ambiguous. The Liberal Union is unalterably opposed to all Congressional investigations in academic life, believing it the sole responsibility of the universities to determine who shall teach and what shall be taught.

While we strongly deplore the type of thoughtless and irrational action originally contemplated by the CUSC, we are far more deeply disturbed by the timidity and apathy prevalent in the student community. This timidity has been well-reflected in the refusal of the Student Council to assume the leadership in uniting student organizations for possible common action in the event of flagrant unfairness by the Jenner Committee. At its Monday meeting the Council overwhelmingly refused even to send a representative to the organizational meeting of the CUSC. The overzealous direction this meeting subsequently took in no way excuses the original inaction. If the Council will not take the lead in the sphere of Academic Freedom, it is only natural to expect less temperate and less representative students to speak for Harvard. It is time to realize that Academic Freedom is not simply an issue for left-of-center political groups, but a principle of vital concern to all students regardless of political convictions or the lack of them. Frank Goodman '54   President, Harvard Liberal Union