Houses Won't OK Delegates to CRR

House Committee chairmen Friday unanimously voted to postpone until next fall the decision on whether to end a 15-year student boycott of the Committee on Rights and Responsibilities (CRR).

Following an afternoon meeting with Dean of Students Archic C. Epps III, the chairmen of all 13 Houses and the Freshman Council said in a letter to Epps that they were not given enough time to consider whether the CRR is a legitimate body or to hold proper elections of delegates.

The 13-member, student-faculty CRR was formed to discipline students in the wake of the April 1969 University Hall takeover. It has not convened since 1978 and has not heard a case since 1975.

Students have boycotted the CRR almost continuously since 1970, charging that the body can be-used to punish students for their political beliels without appeal.

The Faculty Council last week reactivated the CRR to hear the cases of students involved in two recent antiapartheid protests; the April 24 occupation of the 17 Quincy St. headquarters of Harvard's seven-man governing Corporation, and the May 2 blockade of a South African diplomat in the Lowell House room where he was speaking.

Not Politically Oriented

House Committee chairmen interviewed yesterday said their letter does not specifically call for a politically motivated boycott. Rather, they asked that the faculty not convene the CRR until the issues of its legitimacy are resolved.

"The letter is not a boycott--it is a request for more time," said Currier House Committee Chairman Dcborah Ramirez '86.

The CRR has perenially come under fire from some students because it does not grant appeals to students it tries. The body has also been attacked because of the intense peer pressure suffered by student delegates who sat on the committee in its earliest years.

Unlike the Administrative Board--the College's traditional disciplinary body--the CRR allows student delegates to participate actively in disciplinary proceedings.

The CRR also permits students accused of violating the Resolution on Rights and Responsibilities (RRR)--the 1970 University legislation concerning freedoms of speech and movement that the CRR is directed to uphold--to defend themselves in person before the committee. Past Proceedings of the CRR Date of Incident  Incident  Date of Report  Committee on Rights and Responsibilities (CRR) Discipline* April 10, 1969  Occupation of University Hall  June 9, 1969  138 complaints--86 Harvard, 32 Radcliffe undergraduates, 20 GSAS students 102 warned 28 required to withdraw 6 separated 3 dismissed Now 19, 1969  Demonstration in office of Dean of College  Dec. 15, 1969  25 complaints--15 Harvard; 6 Radcliffe undergraduates, 4 GSAS students 1 acquitted, 1 admonished, 5 warned, 11 required to withdraw, 5 suspended requirement to with draw, 2 separated Dec. 5 & 11, 1969  Occupations of University Hall  Jan. 22, 1970  40 complaints--35 Harvard, 9 Radcliffe undergraduates, 2 GSAS students 2 complaints withdrawn, 6 complaints dismissed, 20 warned, 9 suspended requirement to withdraw April 9, 1970  Disruption at CFIA  May 20, 1971  20 complaints 1 complaint withdrawn, 3 admonished, 2 warned, 11 suspended requirement to withdraw, 1 required to withdraw, 1 separated May 11, 1970  Obstructive Picketing at University Hall  June 5, 1971  55 complaints 2 complaints withdrawn, 5 complaints dismissed, 4 admonished, 28 warned, 11 suspended requirement to withdraw, 8 required to withdraw May 16, 1970  Obstructive Picketing at Holyoke Center    2 suspended requirement to withdraw, 2 required to withdraw, 1 previously required to withdraw--warrant issued for criminal trespass March 8, 1971  Cancellation of Dr. Land's lecture  April 23, 1971  2 complaints filed by students--1 withdrawn No disciplinary action March 26, 1971  Incident in Sanders Theater  May 26, 1971 June 4, 1971  32 complaints 5 referred to another body, 4 complaints were duplicates, 3 complaints withdrawn, 2 against students previously asked to leave--required to withdraw, 11 complaints dismissed, 2 warned May 26, 1971  Harassment of Sargent Kennedy  June 11, 1971  3 complaints 3 separated March 6, 1972  Harassment of Professor R.J. Hemstein  April 14, 1972  2 complaints No action taken on either studnt--committee split 4-4 April 20-26, 1972  Occupation of Massachusetts Hall  June 7, 1972  32 complaints 32 suspended requirement to withdraw May 10, 1972  Occupation of Gov. Depl. Offices  June 13, 1972 Nov. 10, 1972  5 complaints 3 complaint dismissed, 2 warned, 1 suspension removed so required to withdraw, 1 suspended requirement to withdraw May 2, 1975  Sit-in in Mass. Hall  June 1975  6 complaints 6 admonished *There are a few small discrepancies in some of these figures but it is unlikely that they are of any significance. It is possible that they are caused either by the early dropping of charges or the discovery that particular persons charged were not currently registered as students under this Faculty. Source: CRR