Student Association Votes To Discontinue Newspaper

At a stormy, confused meeting, the Divinity School Student Association sharply rebuked the editorship of the "Scribe" and voted the newspaper out of existence. The "Scribe" was the official publication of the Association.

The motion to discontinue the "Scribe" because "it has not lived up to the traditions and cannons of good taste" was passed by a vote of 23 to 13 with six abstensions.

During the debate, proponents of the motion charged that the "Scribe" was unrepresentative of student opinion and had run statements "which were defamatory, vulgar, and bordering on deliberate lies."

Answering these statements, John M. Coffee Jr., grDv., editor emeritus of the "Scribe," maintained that the newspaper "was being made a shibboleth" in a feud between Andover and Divinity Halls. In a statement to the CRIMSON, Coffee said the real cause of the Association's vote was the reaction to his article in the latest issue of the "Scribe." Coffee had criticized plans for placing a crucifix in Andover Chapel "because it represents--rightly or otherwise--Popery in many eyes."

A motion to form a committee to investigate the possibility of forming a new Association newspaper was adopted by a 36 to 2 vote. Rodger H. Strait 3Dv, editor of the former "Scribe", will head the new committee. Strait supported the motion to abolish the newspaper.

A former contributing editor to the "Scribe", Richard L. Arthur grDv, said it was possible that he and some others would now publish an unofficial student newspaper.