RGA, PBH Will Sponsor Service Programs Abroad

The Radcliffe Government Association and Phillips Brooks House will jointly sponsor a program that will send Harvard and Radcliffe students throughout the world on service projects beginning this June.

Upon completion of the program, a participant may go directly into the Peace Corps or VISTA, without completing their normal training programs.

Mrs. Mary I. Bunting, President of Radcliffe College, initiated the project. White House, Peace Corps, and VISTA officials have told her that they may make the program nationwide if the Harvard-Radcliffe experiment is successful.

The project consists of three stages--a summer of service work in the United States, an academic year seminar at Harvard upon return, and another summer of service work either in the U.S. or abroad.

$25,000 Grant

The Ford Foundation has assured Mrs. Bunting of a $25,000 grant to provide financial aid for ten to twelve participants to serve as Peace Corps apprentices abroad this summer. But students working in the U.S. will probably have to pay their own way at least this year.

In the first stage of the program, participants will work on wide-ranging service projects in Appalachia, urban housing developments, on Indian reservations, or on an independent project of a student's own choice.

After the first summer, participants will describe and evaluate their experiences in a paper for the program's directors in order to enter the second and third stages of the program.

Second Stage

The second stage will attempt to relate the summer experience with academic work. Students will participate in seminars, led by faculty members or Peace Corps returnees. Although Mrs. Bunting is not yet sure what exactly will be done in these seminars, she expects those next year to help organize the entire program for the future.

Credit may be granted for the seminar, Mrs. Bunting said, but details are unclear now.

The second summer's students will work for at least three months overseas as an apprentice to a Peace Corps volunteer or in the U.S. as an assistant to a public health, education, population study, or other service worker.

Mrs. Bunting has proposed that a board and a full-time executive direct the program.

This board will be composed of two representatives each from RGA and PBH as well as members of the Faculty, the Radcliffe administration, and graduate students who have returned from the Peace Corps or VISTA.

PBH approved the program Monday and designated Gordon R. Kehler '67 and Andrew M. Lewis '67 as members of the board. The RGA unanimously ratifled the proposal yesterday but has not yet elected representatives.

Students who are prepared to go directly into the third stage of the program this summer will probably receive grants of $50 per month plus expenses, provided by the Ford donation.

Any qualified Harvard or Radcliffe student, undergraduate or graduate, may enter the program. Mrs. Bunting called the first stage "wide-open right now."

Students who feel they have already completed the equivalent of stage one, may apply directly for acceptance to stage three before May 1. Applications for stage one may be picked up at PBH after May 1