Corporation and Trustees Jointly Hail Equal Access

Presidents Bok and Herner issued a joint statement yesterday on behalf of the Harvard Corporation and the Radcliffe Board of Trustees endorsing the Strauch Committee recommendations and pledging full co-operation in implementing them.

The statement agreed upon after both the Corporation and the Trustees voted separately to approve the Strauch report, offered "enthusiastic endorsement [the Strauch] recommendations and the philosophy that underlies them and full support to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in implementing these proposals to achieve a genuinely coeducational institution with equal access for all."

The Harvard Board of Oversets must still approve the recommendations for equal access admissions, a unified admissions office, intensified recruiting effects for women students, faculty and administrations, and equalization of facilities and prizes for men and women before the reforms are instituted.

An Oversets subcommittee voted last month to urge the Board to ratify the Strauch proposals at its May 12 meeting.

The Board of Trustees endorsed the Strauch report at its meeting on Tuesday. The Board also approved a three page report from its future committee containing further suggestions for implementation of the Strauch proposals.

Delayed Announcement

Although the Corporation approved the Strauch report at a luncheon meeting Carly last week no public announcement of the decision was made until yesterday.

Bok sands yesterday the Corporation delayed its announcement because "we wanted to held open the option if the Radcliffe Trustees desired a point statement."

However, another Corporation member said yesterday that part of the reason for waiting for the Trustees to vote was that the Corporation "was concerned that Radcliffe would put too many restrictions" on the Strauch report.

Enough Assurance

Several members of the Corporation have previously said that they would be reluctant to publicly hail the Strauch report until they were sure that the Trustees would not criticize them as not offering enough assurance that the numbers of women students, faculty and administrators will be increased rapidly.

The three-page addition to the Strauch report passed by the Trustees applauded the Strauch proposals, but cautioned on their implementation and outlined specific areas of concern.

Calling the report a "major step in the evolstion of Harvard as a coeducational institution," the Trustees stated that:

* they assume women admitted under a combined admissions process will continue to be admitted to Radcliffe College, and by virtue of this process, will be admitted to Harvard:

* in combining the admissions offices "a positive role for women in top positions of responsibility will be vital to a successful equal access policy":

* they expect that commitment to equalized recruiting and "whatever resources may be necessary to increase the pool of qualified women applicants" to ensure "maximum effectiveness" of equal access; and,

* they believe the three-year review committee set up to monitor equal access should present "annual public interim reports to the Joint Policy Committee."

Although no mention of the Trustee addendum was made in the joint statement, at least two of the points raised by the Trustees may still have to be negotiated with the Corporation.

Bok said yesterday he is not sure whether women could be admitted to both Harvard and Radcliffe under the existing arrangements between the two schools.

He said he has asked Daniel Steiner '54, general counsel to the University, to look into any possible legal blocks to such a practice.

Steiner said yesterday he has "talked to the Radcliffe people about it and it seems like a sensible way to go," but he said he still has to examine the proposal from a legal and a policy point of view.

While the Trustees merely called for women in "top positions of responsibility" in a unified admissions office, most favor the appointment of co-directors, instead of one director as the Strauch committee recommended.

Bok and the Corporation have favored the appointing of one director. Bok said yesterday, however, that no final decision has been made on that question.

Sources said yesterday that since the proposal to appoint co-directors was not explicitly cited in the statements released. "Radcliffe probably capitulated" on the matter.

Both the Trustees and the Corporation set aside special meetings at which to debate and vote on the Strauch proposals last month. The Trustees met on Tuesday for an all-day meeting, but Horner said none of the recommendations was hotly debated because there had been so much previous discussion.

At the special luncheon meeting, the Corporation spent less than ten minutes in passing the report. "Most of that time," one source said, "was spent discussing tactics to make the Radcliffe Board feel more comfortable with it.