Not Keeping Promises

WHEN President Bok last spring asked all upperclass students to fill out a questionnaire about Harvard life, students and officials said the results would probably shape the College's agenda for the next few years. At that time, officials said they would hold an open forum to discuss the survey once the findings were tabulated. "The results will be made available in a public forum late in the spring," wrote Bok in a cover letter to the questionnaire.

But Harvard has not kept its word. An entire semester after the administration promised to release results, only some information has been distributed, and only to some people.

This year, Harvard promised to release results to students in three parts, dividing it into house life, academic advising and general College life. Two batches have already been released, and the third one will come out today. The University has been parceling out bits and pieces to different people, effectively deciding what people need to know what.

And there is no hope in sight that the administration will keep its promise of an open meeting. At a session of the Committee on College Life earlier this semester, Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57 said he did not think a forum in Sanders Theater would be a good idea. But he added that if students said they wanted the meeting, an agreement could be worked out.

THUS far, no one has asked for it--not the council members involved in the committees, nor the faculty, nor the administration. The Undergraduate Council has not called for an open meeting and has not even discussed the results in its meetings.

In fact, the way the administration has been releasing the survey parts suggests a calculated decision on its part to hide at least some of the results from students.

In a meeting on Friday, for example, the Committee on House Life received a packet of information detailing students' responses to house life and advising. Yet the information did not say whether minorities or people of different religious backgrounds--two areas that had not been on previous surveys--felt differently about their experiences than the population at large.

While house officials were all provided with detailed breakdowns of how their house fared in the survey, that material has not been released to students. And the information provided thus far about freshman advising was restricted. Even though the administration has argued that it does not want to release information relating to specific people, like house masters, students have a right to know how their peers feel.

WHILE officials have said that the house system and the overall rating of Harvard experience fared better than it has in previous surveys, the results already released clearly indicate that some changes are needed. Most students responding said they did not find the guide to houses useful, and a large number of women answered that they were victims of unwanted sexual attention. Students also raised questions about the role of advising in the houses.

Harvard has let down its students by not releasing the rest of the survey results and by backing down on an open forum. It is too late for the approximately 720 seniors who answered the questionnaire to get the forum they were promised. But it is not too late for the rest of the students. The University should hold a meeting at which all information can be discussed.