Corporation Meeting

LAST WEEK Harvard's governing corporation apparently decided that its November rejection of a request for an open meeting signed by 1100 students and 23 student groups wasn't politic. The seven-man body announced that it would like very much to meet with students--provided there were no more than 10 of them present and all were approved by Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57.

While this latest offer is a far cry from the original student request, it demonstrates that undergraduates can influence the University's decision-making process. It would be unfortunate, however, if the Undergraduate Council's eagerness to send some of its members to a private meeting with Harvard's power elite obscures the need for the kind of meeting so many members of our community requested. Students asked for the seven men who run Harvard to explain some of the decisions they routinely make in the name of the entire community. And they also requested the opportunity to express their own opinions about how Harvard is--and should be--run.

Such a discussion would help the Corporation become more aware of student views. Though an individual's short stay in Cambridge makes him or her almost invisible to the powers that be, general student concerns are not so ephemeral. However, the limited meeting the council agreed to may give the Corporation a skewed impression of student concerns. It should go without saying that attempts to open the Corporation's decision-making process to students ought not take place behind closed doors.

The council should have rejected the Corporation's demand for a closed-door meeting and restated the community's desire for a wider exchange of views. Under University rules, the Corporation has power to do virtually anything it wants; but it can act with much greater ease when it has the support of the community. The best way for the Corporation to get that support is to increase democracy at Harvard.

The Undergraduate Council did the cause of student empowerment a disservice by accepting so limited a victory. It would have done better to exhibit publicly scorn for a Corporation that fancies itself an exclusive club.