Elections for The Advisory Council

The Administration has formulated an appropriate structure for the proposed Student-Faculty Advisory Council: students will constitute a majority of the Council, and anyone will be eligible to testify. It now remains the responsibility of Deans and Masters to arrange election procedures.

A major problem in electing the student representatives is that most Harvard students simply do not know each other. Dean Ford's decision to hold at-large elections by Houses and Freshmen will lessen this difficulty, but each Dean or Master should make certain that any candidate may have a position paper mimeographed without cost. Each constituency should also hold an open meeting at which candidates and students can discuss issues.

It would be unfair, however, to hold elections at a specific meeting or to require any other criterion for voting such as "a registration of interest" at a House office. Every student under the Faculty of Arts and Sciences should receive the maximum opportunity to vote. Balloting should take place over several days and in places of easy accessibility.

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Dean Ford stated yesterday that students on probation will not be eligible to serve on the Advisory Council. If the Faculty's Regulations for students in Harvard College are followed strictly, Dean Ford's decision is logical and correct. The Regulations say that a student on probation may not "hold class office or other positions of honor and responsibility, hold office in a student organization, or engage in any competition or activity which, in the opinion of the Dean, may interfere with his College work."

But the Advisory Council is the direct outgrowth of the Dow protest and the issues which that demonstration raised. By denying the probationed protestors the privilege to seek election to the Council, the Administration would undercut the Council's purpose and spirit. A wise solution would be for the Administrative Board to end probation for the demonstrators at midyear. Then the activists would have a fair chance to seek election, no regulations would be violated, and the probation would still have its deterrent effect. But even if the Board does not shorten the term of probation, the purpose and potential importance of the new Advisory Council justify an exception to the rules, and any undergraduate should be eligible for election.