Deans Give Permission To Form Joint Groups

Undergraduate students are now permitted to form joint Harvard-Radcliffe organizations, it was announced yesterday by Acting Dean Watson and Miss Frances R. Brown, Radcliffe Dean of Residence.

Rules at both colleges have been revised to allow the existence of joint clubs. The changes were made by the Radcliffe Student Government Association and by the Harvard Faculty Committee on Student Activities on recommendation of the Student Council.

The move resulted partly because several organizations, conducting parallel activities, expressed an interest in combining into one group. In the past some similar organizations have worked together, as the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra. Radcliffe students have also taken part on a restricted basis in Harvard organizations such as the Dramatic Club.

Both Colleges Must Approve

To form a joint organization, students will have to meet the requirements of both colleges, according to the Deans. A merger of two clubs must be approved by two-thirds votes of both memberships. In any joint club, both Annex and Harvard members will have full voting and office-holding rights.

The name of a joint group must include the words "Harvard-Radcliffe" except in the case of organizations whose titles have "a far-reaching and ancient tradition."

The Harvard Faculty Committee on Student Activities must approve all joint organizations, upon recommendation by the Student Council. In addition, the Radcliffe S.G.A. and a Radcliffe administrative review board must approve the group.

The faculty committee made the formal revisions in the rulebook "Regulations for Undergraduate Organizations in Harvard College," changing the wording to include provisions for Radcliffe membership. There still must be at least ten Harvard members of a group seeking recognition as an approved undergraduate organization. Dean Brown and Dean Watson expect that some clubs will continue separately in the two colleges. The new rules, however, allow Harvard clubs to admit Radcliffe students.