Students Write Letter to Bok Concerning Third World Center

Two former members of the committee investigating establishment of a campus Third World center will send President Bok a letter today saying they are "disturbed" by the appearance of the committee's chairman before the Faculty Council Wednesday.

Asking Bok to "take firm action in those areas of Third World concern which are your sole domain," Jane Bock '81, president of the Asian American Students Association, and Lydia P. Jackson '32 president of the Black Students Association, said in the letter they "urge that all official consideration" of a Third World center be delayed until the committee completes its work.

Bock and Jackson--who served this summer on the committee formed by Bok last spring--wrote the letter in response to this week's Faculty Council meeting at which the Rev. Peter J. Gomes, chairman of the committee, discussed the group's work to date.

Not Positive

Gomes said yesterday the council--which asked him to appear--had "guarded and uncommitted" reaction to his outline of the committee's work, adding that he thought Bok would present the committee's final proposal, due January 1, to the Faculty for further study. Bok was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Members of the council raised questions about the constituency, cost and purpose of a Third World center, Gomes said, adding that any funding for a center would probably come from the Faculty's budget.

"The Council was worried about setting a precedent for a student-run, college-financed agency," Gomes said. "Most feel the investors would have to have a major word in how the investment should be managed," he added.

Jackson said she wrote the letter because she feels Bok should take "strong positive steps" toward accepting the Third World center committee's final proposal before turning the matter over to the Faculty for scrutiny.

The letter asks Bok "to insure that your committee's preliminary and incomplete research not be used as a basis for policy discussions." The committee will meet next Thursday to start choosing among possible models and refining a proposal for a center for submission to Bok