Student Councils Plan Club Merger Procedure

The Harvard Student Council in a special session last night voted to favor the merger of Harvard and Radcliffe undergraduate organizations and the opening of Harvard organizations to Radcliffe students.

The Council's resolution insisted that the mergers be voluntary, that every Harvard club admitting Radcliffe members change its name to "Harvard-Radcliffe" except in the case of traditional titles--and that each merging club submit a revised constitution to the Student Council guarenteeing Radcliffe students full membership rights.

Need Two-Thirds Approval

Each club wishing to merge must first present a petition to the Council stating that a two-thirds majority of the club's total membership favors the admission of women. The petition and the club's revised constitution will then be reviewed by the Student Council and the Faculty Committee on Student Activities.

The faculty committee will meet today to discuss the procedure for merger, taking into consideration the Council's resolution of last night.

Debate Over Quorum

Although the resolution was approved by a 10-2 majority, the decision was prefaced by a heated, and at times chaotic, discussion. Half of the two-hour meeting was devoted to a disagreement over whether or not a quorum was present. Those who wished to state that a quorum existed were opposed by those who declared the statement invalid because of a lack of a quorum.

"This is the only organization I've ever seen which can contradict itself within five minutes," commented John F. Maher '60, main advocate of the presence of a quorum.

Strenuous debate was also provoked by the wording of the resolution. After striking out one clause, the Council revoted its inclusion just before the meeting closed.

"The Council may be useless, but it's a happy group," announced President Larry R. Johnson '58.