Hunt Hall

IF THE HARVARD community must rely on President Bok to make decisions privately and without warning, we might also hope to rely on his ability to make the correct one. In the case of Hunt Hall, it is far from clear that he has done so.

Last fall the Bok administration gave the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies an assurance that Hunt Hall was in no forseeable danger of being torn down. Consequently, President Bok's announcement in March that the building would be destroyed to make way for a new dormitory took a lot of people by surprise.

The element of surprise is a time-proven tactic in war. In combat situations one wants to give his enemy as little time to react as possible. But Bok is not running a war--he is running a university-- and it is difficult to understand why he allowed the admirers of Hunt Hall so little time to plan their defense.

It is discouraging to learn that Mr. Bok has so little concern for the historical and architectural value of Hunt Hall that he would decide with such haste to demolish the building. It is even more discouraging to find that President Bok has so little regard for the members of his community that he would fail to discuss with them the pros and cons of destroying one of the most important edifices in Harvard Yard.

Before a final decision has been made--no matter what the urgency of constructing a new dormitory--the Faculty and students who live and work around the Yard deserve the courtesy of being consulted about which building should be torn down and what sort of building should go in its place.

Bok's failure to make public the discussion of his plans for the site presently occupied by Hunt Hall has already put the Faculty Council in the awkward position of having to request that the administration reconsider an earlier decision. The Save Hunt Hall Committee is in even more difficult straits. Because President Bok has refused to open the demolition of Hunt Hall to Faculty consideration, the only way of preserving that building is by obtaining a court order against its destruction.

The need to go to such lengths in order to raise one's voice against an important decision is one indication that the era of good feelings is coming to an end for the Bok administration. As long as President Bok continues to make such decisions of general concern unilaterally, this University will enjoy less and less the good will of its members and will suffer increasingly more from the splintering of the Harvard community into a number of small interest groups.

President Bok has hardly given anyone a chance to talk about the aesthetic, educational and financial issues surrounding the demolition of Hunt Hall. We will not fully appreciate what we are losing until the damage has already been done.

HUNT HALL was built in 1893 by Richard Hunt, the architect who designed the New York Public Library. The building is one of the best examples of late 19th-century architecture in the Cambridge area. Hunt designed the structure in the style of historical revivalism, reflecting his belief that the meanings of the past must be saved for the well-being of the future. Harvard has an interest in preserving this view of the world, since Harvard's continued success as an academic institution depends somewhat on its ability to maintain a sense of historical continuity. As Stan Lawder, Luce Professor of Film, put it, "The building has dignity, age and beauty. You just don't decide to wipe something like this off the face of the earth."

President Bok has decided to destroy Hunt Hall because Harvard needs a new freshman dorm and he could only raise money to build it in the Yard. Something had to go, and since Hunt Hall is not particularly productive in terms of dollars per square foot it was chosen. While no one can deny the importance of economy, Bok's often-exhibited insistence upon placing financial considerations above all others is not particularly appropriate in a university setting. Hunt Hall, in its dignity and beauty, represents the style and intellectual heritage which have made Harvard a worthy institution. By tearing the building down and replacing it with an economically more efficient dormitory, Harvard becomes all the poorer despite whatever money saved in the process.

If everything goes according to plan, the demolition of Hunt Hall will begin on June 15. It will be a noteworthy day in Harvard's history, but it will not be a day to be proud of. It will be a day when bureaucratic stupidity wins out over common sense and decency.