Petition on Coed Housing To Go Before Corporation

More than 2000 Harvard and Radcliffe undergraduates have signed a petition requesting coeducational housing by next fall. The HPC-RUS subcommittee on coeducation, sponsors of the petition, will present it to the Corporation tomorrow.

The petition says that coeducational housing is of immediate importance and must not depend on the conclusion of the Harvard-Radcliffe merger. The subcommittee expects over half of Harvard and Radcliffe to sign the petition, Judith T. Seligson '72, a member of the subcommittee, said yesterday.

"We don't want to have to wait two years for the finalization of the merger," Miss Seligson said. "If coeducational housing is important enough to students, the Corporation should be able to make the necessary accommodations," she added.

In January, President Pusey vetoed a proposal for a coeducational exchange between Winthrop House and Currier House. Pusey explained that coeducational housing was not possible without a merger of the two schools.

The questionnaire about coed living circulated by the HRPC in December indicated that one-third of Harvard and 60 per cent of Radcliffe would be willing to change places immediately.

Miss Seligson said that a later poll conducted in Adams, Winthrop, and Lowell indicated that 25 per cent of the members in those Houses would give up their present rooms for Cliffies.

"Now that student interest is proven, the next step is to get a Radcliffe and a Harvard Master to present a plan to President Pusey," she said. "A new plan might suggest that Cliffies become permanent members of a Harvard House," she said.

Move by Suites

Miss Seligson said the subcommittee presented a similar plan to the Radcliffe trustees. "The plan could involve a move by suites and would not necessarily involve a whole entry or an entire floor of a Radcliffe Hall," she said.

The plan was presented to the Radcliffe College Council at their February 3 meeting, and was one of the reasons for their recent consideration of merger, Miss Seligson said.

"If the Corporation forms a committee on coeducation as we expect," Donald J. Gogel '71, president of HRPC, said yesterday, "we will push of student membership on the committee."