Ad Board Used Petitions As Evidence, Tutors Say

About half of the 74 students placed on probation this week were not actually seen obstructing the Dow Chemical recruiter, but were punished because their senior tutors accepted self-incriminating statements from them, several senior tutors acknowledged yesterday.

Dean Glimp confirmed last night the use of self-incriminating letters. "If we were severing students," he said, "we would have kept a tougher standard. But as it turned out we relied mostly on whether the senior tuor was reasonably sure a student was there."

In Dudley House, 37 students were placed on probation. Harry P. Kerr, Allston Burr Senior Tutor in Dudley House, said yesterday that only five of those were identified by him or Master Thomas E. Crooks '49. One other student wrote a letter to Kerr confessing he had forcibly obstrcted Fred Leavitt, and 31 more were probated because they signed a petition stating "we were all equally responsible for obstructing Dr. Leavitt."

Acceped 'Judgment'

Kerr said he presented this petition to the Administration Board Monday, and the board rejected the petition and the principle of collective responsibility. Ker said the board then accepted his "judgment" that all 37 were in the corridor.

Petitions similar to the Dudley letter were circulated in all the Houses, but they all used the phrase "responsibility for the demonstration" instead of "responsible for obstructing Dr. Leavitt." Several senior tutors said last night they did not consider these petitions as evidence that the signers were obstructing Leavitt.

Personal letters of self-incrimination, however, were accepted by other senior tutors. The Rev. Robert W. Haney '56, senior tutor in Adams House, said last night that only five of the six Adams students placed on probation were identified at the demonstration. One student, Haney said, asked to be recorded as present, "and we did so."

Joel Porte, senior tutor in Quincy House said that anybody who "wanted to identify himself to me" as having satin was put on probation, but Porte declined to say how many students did this.

The tutors in Leverett and Eliot said that no student turned in a letter saying "I was obstructing Dr. Leavitt." Senior tutors in other Houses could not be reached for comment.

One Faculty member, Everett I. Mendelsohn, associate professor of History of Science, said last night he was "led to believe from the discussion at the Faculty meeting and the dean's answers to questions that no student was permitted to incriminate himself."

'Not There'

At least two of the Dudley students who in Kerr's "judgment" were obstructing Leavitt, said last night they were not even at Mallinckrodt. "I was working in the monkey labs on the eighth floor of William James all afternoon," said Richard A. Downing '70. Another student said he had walked by Mallinckrodt but had left because "there wasn't much action."

Several Dudley students on probation contacted last night, both participants and non-participants, said they respected Kerr's move and considered him "more responsible than other senior tutors."

Kerr said it was not clear until Tuesday that statements of self-incrimination would be accepted. He indicated that the Board would continue to accept "credible" letters of self-incrimination, which would be considered at the next board meeting