Patrick's Yardling Clothing Rules Stir Proctor-Porter Row in Union

A quiet, behind the scenes war between Union porters and freshman proctors has arisen over the ruling that a coat is a suit coat and a tie is not a shoe string.

Vernon Patrick, Secretary of the Union, is the author of the stronger regulations designed to improve freshman dressing habits. He has listed among prominent dressing don'ts "dangling ties" and Bermuda shorts.

The porters, who dress in blue denim jackets--a form of clothing outlawed by Patrick--feel the freshman proctors should be responsible for disciplining the under-dressed Yardling. And the proctors, who usually wear regulation suit coats, call this the porters' job.

Patrick started the controversy when he posted a set of rules defining freshman dress. "A coat is hereby defined to be a suit coat. A jacket, sweater, extra shirt, etc., does not qualify," writes Patrick. "A tie is defined as a four-in-hand tie or a bow tie. Shoe string ties do not qualify, nor do searfs," he continued. Patrick contends that "the Harvard freshman has lost his sartorial splendor."