Alumni Back Hayakawa for President

The individuals most frequently suggested as successors to President Pusey, who is retiring next June, are John W. Gardner, former Secretary of Health. Education and Welfare, and S. I. Hayakawa, the acting president of San Francisco State College who is noted for his strong reactions against student radicalism.

These suggestions as well as about 600 others came in response to the 200,000 requests for advice in replacing Pusey sent out by the Harvard Corporation last spring.

Gardner, a liberal who has been head of the Urban Coalition and is now involved with a so-called "Third Force" political movement, gets most of his support from faculty members.

According to a story in the Boston Globe Monday, Hayakawa's popularity among alumni has disappointed several Harvard officials who are involved in the selection process.

"This shows the depth of disaffection of some of our alumni to what's been going on," one said last week. "And it show the real misunderstanding of the alumni for what Harvard needs in new leadership at this juncture."

University officials say that Gardner and Hayakawa are just two of the 600 names being considered.

The selection committee is now narrowing this list down to about 100 names as the first phase of the selection process which they hope to complete by Christmas.

Harvard plans to talk to various student, faculty, and alumni groups in narrowing down the present list of candidates to a small list of top choices.

Members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers will make the final decision.

The search for Pusey's successor has already caused the selection committee a number of problems. In his letter to alumni, Francis Burr, a member of the Corporation, referred to the next President, as "a man generally acceptable to the Harvard community."

This, and another reference to "a man" caused reaction among Radcliffe women who are concerned about sexism in the selection process. Burr has stressed that his word choice was in-advertent and that several women are on the list of 600 candidates.

Another problem the selection committee must deal with in their search for Harvard's 25th president is whether

or not to break the tradition that the president of Harvard must have been an undergraduate at Harvard. If the tradition were maintained, it would, of course, rule out all women candidates.

Other problems the selection committee is meeting include whether or not the new president should have a limited term of office and whether he should be subject to a review committee.