Credibility and conciliation

Several members of the Friends of the Spartacus Youth League came before the Undergraduate Council last March, complaining that they had been unfairly disciplined for interrupting a speech by Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger '38.

The Sparts got more than they bargained for.

Not only did the council, the College's elected link between students and administration, agree to hear their complaints, they went ahead and issued a 118-page report on free speech, citing other examples of students heckling campus visitors and outlining a policy for future disruptions.

The report, which was praised as "mature and balanced" by Dean of the Faculty Henry Rosovsky, was important not so much for its content as for what it stood for--a commitment to thoroughness and credibility which administrators say marked the council's second year.

Some say this commitment to thoroughness will insure the council's survival; the fact that administrators avidly read the free speech report is proof that they respect the council's judgement enough to listen to its recommendations on future issues. However, some say this same thoroughness may ultimtely alienate the council's undergraduate constituents, who are getting the impression that the council acts too slowly or that it is bogged down it bureaucracy.

The tendency of the council last year was to pass resolutions on "political" issues--such as urging that Harvard divest from South Africa--often on no more information than a few hours of discussion. Conversely, this year's body tends to proceed with more caution and to toe the line on political issues. Says Council Vice Chair Brian R. Melendez '86, "Last year, we passed a resolution on it, this year we did a report."

The new attitude in this year's council is summed up in a letter Council Chairman Gregory S. Lyss '85 wrote to President Bok to introduce another council effort--a report on the history of the Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility (ACSR): "No longer do we take positions on an issue, but we have changed to researching and making proposals."

Lyss says that he has tried to stress this year that simply passing resolutions is not effective in bringing about change. "The low point of the year was the Shavuot resolution," Lyss recalls, referring to the council's vote to call on the University to change the date of its Commencement exercise because of conflict with a Jewish holiday, Lyss says that the council, persuaded by emotional appeals from activists who were not undergraduates, passed a resolution that it knew could not be effective.

"It's not that we stay away from so-called political issues," Lyss says, "It's just that if we deal with them, we should deal with them like any other issue--with research and discussion."

The council can point to an impressive record of accomplishments this year; reports have been issued on such issues as free speech, the freshman housing lottery, freshman academic advising, teaching fellows, history course offerings and the ACSR. These reports should inspire actual policy changes next year.

The College, for example, will take into consideration the free speech report, which stressed a speaker's right to appear without interruption in future incidents. Final clubs will also receive special scrutiny next year as a result of discussions by council representatives to the student-faculty Committee on College Life. The clubs will have until October to decide whether to adopt the College's non-discrimination clause and admit women--or face the severing of College ties to the clubs, such as access to alumni lists and the centrex phone service.

In the same vein, the Academics Committee of the council this year drew up a report on the quality of sections in courses. It urged professors to teach sections whenever possible and to set up regular meetings with section leaders to discuss course topics. In addition, the committee tackled the dearth of offerings in the History Department. By consulting with department members, the committee determined it would be feasible for the department to offer at least one course each year in the history of England, France, Germany and Russia.

The committee's discussions with departments about advising freshman will result in meetings for freshmen during shopping week in the fall and possibly a training program to familiarize proctors with the requirements of various departments.

According to Dean of the College John B. Fox, Jr. '59, all these efforts follow the lead of last year's storage report, a 40-page document which refuted the College's contention that there was not enough space to allow for unlimited summer storage. The report specifically listed the location and dimensions of the space in each House that could be converted for the purpose.

"The council this year has produced several quite thoughtful essays, an enormously pleasant change from an environment of criticism," says Fox. The dean attributes this thoroughness and willingness to cooperate to two factors: One is the high caliber of this year's crop of councilors and the other is the flexible student-Faculty committees which are filled by the council and where most of the council's proposals get consideration. The old 26-member Committee on Housing and Undergraduate Life, which existed prior to the formation of the council in 1982, proved exceptionally unwieldy.

The one negative repercussion of the council's new thoroughness is that the time commitment involved precludes council members from participating equally, Melendez says, "Twenty people are doing about 90 percent of the work."

This trend, Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III says, could lead to a "leadership strata," in which the leaders become out of touch with the rest of the body, inactive members neglect meetings, and the whole body loses touch with constituents in the Houses. "A lot of people on the council get into the thinking they are doing the things they are doing for the council, [not for the students]," Melendez acknowledges.

Another mechanism to insure credibility with administrators--but which may turn off students--is the council's complicated procedures, encapsulated in the council's constitution, its system of parliamentary procedure, and its 70-odd pages of by-laws.

Student groups expressed impatience with this bureaucracy in at least one meeting this spring when members of the Radcliffe Union of Students (RUS) and other groups arrived at the council to urge that the council censure the Pi Eta Club, a men's social group, for an allegedly sexist news-letter, RUS members were frustrated at the council's procedures, which made them wait until the end of the meeting to discuss their proposal, failed to make it on the docketed agenda. Despite the criticism, council members say these procedures are a prerequisite for credibility with administrators. "The procedures are designed to insure that we are thorough", says council Secretary Richard A. Bennett '85.

While members acknowledge that the council has some way to go in gaining credibility with students, they say it is at least a start that student groups are going to the council with their problems. "The fact that students showed an interest in discussing the Pi or the Friends of the Spartacus Youth league before the council is a sign that we are being accepted by students," says Bennett.

Attendance is another problem that Epps feels is plaguing the Council, and he cites its frequent turnover of some seats which members forfeit once they miss three meetings. This, he explains, may be indicative of a lack of interest in the council which could ultimately cause its downfall if there is one willing to run.

Lyss takes a different line on the attendance problem. "Lots of people here try student government and find it's not for them. I'd rather make room for someone who is willing," he says.

Lyss adds that it is unrealistic to expect full participation from the council. "No organization, with maybe the exception of the Phillips Brooks House, has 89 active members--it's enough to get 89 people to go to two meetings a week."