To Boycott, or Not to Boycott?

Twelve down, one to go.

Having disputed the issue since December, residents of Adams House this week voted in a House-wide referendum to withdraw the House's two nominations to the Committee on Rights and Responsibilities (CRR), a disciplinary body established by the Faculty to punish students involved in political demonstrations.

By reversing its position, Adams House joined in supporting a ten-year student boycott of the CRR, which has drawn fire from undergraduates since 1969, when the Faculty set it up to discipline students involved in strikes and the occupation of University Hall.

But the South House Committee last semester voted to break the boycott, and although Serena H. Yoon '82, chairman of the House committee, said yesterday the group will reconsider its decision at its scheduled meeting next Tuesday, it has yet to withdraw its nominees.

Yoon said that when the South House Committee voted to nominate representatives for the CRR, she favored holding a House-wide referendum instead. "It's hard to judge the sentiment of the House with just the House Committee," she said.

Adams House learned that lesson this week, holding its second referendum on the issue after angry students demanded a say in the vote and after the House Committee ran what Antonio F. Perez '82, chairman of the House Committee, this week called a "shoddily run" referendum last December.

If South House decides to withdraw its nominees, it will join Adams House and the Freshman Council--which also voted to nominate representatives to the CRR this fall--in reversing its decision. Following in the footsteps of several past Freshman Councils, members of the Class of '84 changed their minds about the CRR after talking with upperclassmen.

While one Adams House student said this week that he believes students who vote to break the boycott do not understand the history and purpose of the CRR--which has not met for several years--Dean Alterman '81, a House member who opposed the boycott, said yesterday he "did not find the CRR unsuitable enough to continue the boycott."

Saying he believes students and faculty should "have equal input" into the CRR, Alterman said, "Adams House did the College a service by keeping the issue in the forefront of student debate."