Harvard To Deny Rebates On Meals to War Fasters

The Committee on Houses in a two-hour meeting yesterday afternoon voted to deny a rebate on meals to students fasting to protest the Vietnam War.

The committee also heard a report of the subcommittee on Mather House headed by Richard T. Gill, master of Leverett House. It took no action on the report, but is expected to come to a decision at its next meeting where it will also discuss a "basic policy" for expansion of the University's housing facilities.

The committee decided not to make an exception to the present policy which grants rebates only to persons seriously ill or to students with off-campus jobs that include meals. "Exceptions made on religious grounds are the closest parallel to the fasting situation," said Dean Ford but, according to Ford, rebates are not in order in matters of conscience such as the fast.

Unlike Radcliffe, which in 1964 granted rebates to students fasting to send money to needy families in Mississippi, Harvard has never made an exception to its rebate rule. Mary I. Bunting, president of Radcliffe, announced on Monday that Radcliffe would not grant rebates to student fasters protesting the Vietnam War. She called rebates "a great mistake."

The report of the Gill subcommittee, according to Ford, included facts on quotas for Mather House as well as general comments on the policy on expanded housing in the University.