Council Votes for New Constitution; Referendum To Decide HCUA Fate

The Harvard Council for Undergraduate Affairs quietly sounded its death rattle last night.

The 13 HCUA representatives present voted unanimously to terminate the present unicameral student government in favor of a new constitution establishing two separate organizations, the Harvard Policy Committee (HPC) and the Harvard Undergraduate Council (HUC).

The final decision on the HCUA proposal will come in early January, when undergraduates will vote on the draft in a college-wide referendum.

Last night's meeting was almost entirely devoted to amending the constitutional provisions for the HUC which was to have been comprised of the chairmen of the 9 House Committees and the head of the Freshman Council.

Adams House representative Richard Minzner '65 pointed out that many House Committee chairmen would be buried by a flood of paper work, and thus would be severely limited in service to their Houses.

His subsequent notion to double the size of the HUC by including one extra representative from each House squeaked through 7-6, as HCUA Chairman H Reed Ellis '65 declined to cast two proxy votes which would have reversed the decision.

Dunster House Representative Sandy Pfunder '65 challenged the new amendment, charging that the additional members of the HUC would become "second class citizens" in the organization unless their rights were properly safeguarded.

A compromise resolution specifically permitting these members to hold the elected posts of vice president and secretary-treasurer in the HUC was approved by voice vote. The resolution added, however, that only a House Committee chairman could serve as president of the HUC.