Council Dismisses Thomson Charge, Advises New Recess

The Student Council last night defeated a petition by William C. Brady '57 asking for administrative action against students who subvert the activities of undergraduate organizations. In effect, this action meant dismissing alleged subversion charges against John R. Thomson '57, HYRC president.

The group also took final action in recommending to the Deans' Office increasing the inter-term vacation by at least three days. The extra days would be taken from the spring reading period.

In place of the Brady petition, the Council submitted to the administration a proposed rule that..."any verbal attack by one undergraduate organization upon another, which may be interpreted by the Deans' Office as clandestine, shall be deemed action unbecoming to a Harvard student.

"The exact definition of such an attack, for purposes of this recommendation, shall be 'an act secretively done and subsequently denied.'"

In discussing its action, the Council made it clear that both its refusal to endorse the accusations against Thomson and its rejection of the Brady petition were due to insufficient evidence.

Insufficient Evidence

The only concrete evidence against Thomson, and hence, for Brady's petition, was a letter from Thomson to Senator Bricker and a verified statement by the HYRC president in the CRIMSON, both disparaging the Political Forum.

Members of the Council stated that the alternative recommendation had intentionally limited application since nothing had been established in the Thomson case. Under the recommendation, however, any student may complain directly to the Dean of "clandestine action."

The decision to extend the inter-term vacation at the expense of the spring reading period and a proposed Thanks-giving vacation, was passed on the results of the student poll last week, preceded by unofficial conferences with the Administration.