Administrative Fiat

LAST WEEK THE ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD forced an elected student representative to resign from the Undergraduate Council. The student--an author of last spring's prank that caused the University computer system to print out "This computer test sucks" continuously during the Quantitative Reasoning Requirement test--is on disciplinary probation and is thus prohibited from participating in "extracurricular activities." However, applying that prohibition to the Undergraduate Council is innappropriate and sets a dangerous precedent.

That the Ad Board, in this disciplinary proceeding, chose to consider Harvard's sole recognized student government as a mere extracurricular activity shows how little respect Harvard administrators have for the council's role as representative of students' interests. Being an Undergraduate Council representative is not just "a sort of recognition or honor" like any other activity; it involves responsibility to constituents and their interests. That responsibility can only be given or withdrawn by students, not by the University administration as deus ex machina.

In removing an elected student representative by administrative fiat the Ad Board undermined the council's integrity and legitimacy as a representative body. Regardless of widespread ambivalence about the council's effectiveness and accountability, such complete disregard for the body's role as an organization of and for students is indefensible.

In justifying the Ad Board's decision, Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57 undercut his own view of the council as just one of many extracurricular activities on campus. He claimed that it would be "unbecoming" for the prankster to serve as a student leader on the council. But decorum is hardly a reason to invade the relationship between students and their elected representatives. Its use here as justification is a symptom of the administration's narrow vision of the purpose of student government. The Undergraduate Council's own past conduct may be partly to blame for that narrow image of its function, but student government at Harvard will never be able to effectively address the concerns of the community as long as the University acts as puppeteer.