'Cliffe Seniors Vote to Support Men Who Refuse to Serve in Army

Radcliffe seniors approved overwhelmingly yesterday a statement of support for draft resistors, which will be read at Commencement Wednesday.

In a hand vote taken at Commencement rehearsal in Sanders Theatre, more than two-thirds of the 254 Radcliffe seniors who will be marching in Commencement voted for the statement, Gene Bishop '68 said last night.

Miss Bishop wrote the statement, which read in part: On our graduation day, we declare our support for those who will oppose the draft as one means of trying to end the war in Vietnam."

Each girl found a copy of the statement on her seat when she arrived for Commencement rehearsal. Isabelle Dry, the college marshal, had read the statement and consented to its distribution at rehearsal.

Ricki Radio Lieberman '68, addressing the rehearsal meeting, asked whether girls wanted to vote on the statement immediately or wait for the second rehearsal (scheduled for today). By an almost unanimous hand vote, the girls decided to vote immediately.

The statement included a sentence reading, "They will be drafted to fight what we believe to be an immoral and unjust war." When a handful of girls dissented from this phrasing in a preliminary vote, the word "we" was changed to "many of us." The statement as a whole was then voted on, and received a large majority.