OPEN MEETINGS IN ENGLAND

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

The attempt of some faculty and administrators to keep their meetings closed are ridiculous. During the past two years I was at Oxford University writing a thesis on British universities and, as part of my research project, spectated at many meetings of Congregation: i.e., the teachers and administrators of the university. Not once was any attempt made to exclude me.

Nor did other students wish to attend with me. I suspect they had two reasons for staying away: (a) the speakers were sometimes appallingly inept; (b) the debates were published verbatim afterwards for anyone, in or out of the university, to read.

Publicity is essential to responsibility. I can see only two matters in which secrecy might be justified. One would be appointments and promotions, and the other would be the disciplining of a student on a morals charge. In these cases (or so the argument goes) any publicity would be damaging to the persons being judged. Perhaps so--though even here, at least in appointments and promotions, the universities of other nations are much less fearful of publicity than American ones. Besides, special procedures could be followed for these matters. Victor C. Chen   John F. Kennedy School of Government