Bok to Write Open Letter On Minorities

President Bok will distribute an open letter to the community within the next month on the status of minority students and faculty at Harvard.

University officials this week confirmed that Bok will touch on minority admissions policy, the hiring of minority faculty, and the quality of life for minorities in the community in his letter. The letter will be Bok's sixth on a variety of ethical issues confronting the university.

Bok yesterday declined to reveal details of his letter, saying it would be "premature" to comment before he finished his final draft. He also said he did not know when the letter would be released, adding. "It will depend on the feedback I get from people to whom I show my drafts."

Last November, campus Third World organizations asked Bok to write an open letter on minority issues, following the disclosure of a controversial preliminary report on Harvard admissions prepared by Robert E. Klitgaard '68, special assistant to Bok.

Klitgaard's draft suggested that high test scores often overpredict the academic performance of Black and women students. After it was made public, more than 200 students protested in the Yard and presented Bok with a list of eight demands.

The demands included calls for a stronger University commitment to affirmative action and a public disavowal of the report by Bok. Some protest leaders threatened to occupy Massachusetts Hall if Bok failed to meet the demands.

Although the open letter may mention the Klitgaard report, one official said recently Bok will "not say anything more about it that hasn't already been said."

Bok has repeatedly stated that the Klitgaard study represented only an incomplete draft and that it was commissioned as part of an overall review of admissions policy.

Bok also said he "did not ask Mr. Klitgaard to investigate the abilities or performance of particular groups of students--either by sex, race, or religion," adding that he "was truly sorry about any hurt that has resulted from the incident."

Third World student leaders, noting the nation-wide publicity the report received, called Bok's statement insufficient.

Lydia P. Jackson '82, president of the Black Students Association, said yesterday Third World groups last fall asked Bok to address each of the demands made at the demonstration and to forward alternative proposals for those demands he disagreed with.

Although Bok's open letter is not expected to follow this format, Jackson said Third World students hoped he would place less emphasis on race relations and more on substantive issues such as the recruitment of minority students and faculty.

In his Commencement speech last year, Bok talked extensively about race relations. "In June, he dealt with his own perception of the Third World experience," Jackson said yesterday. "In the letter, we want him to say how he feels about our evaluation of the Third World experience."

Nancy P. Randolph, special assistant to Bok for affirmative action said yesterday the letter will probably be released by the end of the month.

In his earlier open letters, the first of which appeared in March of 1979, Bok discussed the University's ethical responsibilities and investment, gift and boycott policies.

His most recent letter, written last April in response to questions raised by the consideration of Chicago economist Arnold C. Harberger to head the Harvard Institute of International Development, argued for an appointment policy divorced from ideological beliefs of candidates for academic posts