Alumni React Favorably To Equal Access--For Now

The first year of equal access admissions at Harvard-Radcliffe, which resulted in the lowest male-female ratio in the history of the College, has drawn considerable praise from alumni--but with reservations about the policy's future.

Approximately 1062 freshmen and 567 freshwomen are expected to register today--a decrease of 98 men and increase of 82 women over last year--for a ratio of 1.87 to 1. down from last year's 2.4 to 1.

The number of women admitted to the College has nearly doubled in the past five years. "The era for Harvard to be admitting women on an equal basis is long overdue," Dr. Charles F. Ferguson '29, vice president of the Harvard Club of Cape Cod, said yesterday.

"It never occurred to anyone that women should be at the school in my day," he said. "Nobody felt there was any reason for it to change."

But Ferguson said he now thinks there is no reason why some sexually segregated schools should not become co-ed if the governing and administrative bodies give their approval.

Ferguson said his major concern with the equal access policy now is that it shouldn't get "out of hand," and result in the number of women admitted exceeding the number of men--a phenomenon that theoretically is possible.

The Faculty voted last year to institute an equal access program so that admission decisions would be sex-blind, and male-female quotas would be eliminated.

"Equal rights means 50 per cent to me," Ferguson said. "Anything more, and the men would have to fight to get the college back. To have more than 50 per cent women would be a case of the tail wagging the dog--and very unfair," he said.

William R. Fitzsimmons, director of admissions for Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges, said "We're committed to taking the best people. We don't care if the class ends up 95 per cent men or 95 per cent women."