ADMISSIONS RATIO

To the Editors of the Crimson:

The preceding letter gives me an opportunity to convey to a wider audience several points that I have already emphasized before informal student groups.

First, I have never intended that existing scholarship funds be diminished to provide financial aid for the approximately 130 additional Radcliffe women per year. Instead, funds should be allocated from other sources, such as the extra tuition income generated by the new students, to insure that the additional students receive scholarship assistance at the same level and on the same terms as the existing Radcliffe student body. As a result, students need not fear that "a disproportionate number of the additional women will be expected to pay their own way."

Second, Harvard owns several unoccupied sites in areas close to Radcliffe, Brattle Street or the Yard on which housing could be built for additional students. I have suggested that planning for the new housing be carried out by a group that will include Hale Champion, Financial Vice President, Charles Whitlock, Acting Dean of the College, and student representatives from the Committee on Houses and Undergraduate Life. Presumably, this group will provide "a clear statement" of their plans before any added housing is built.

Finally, I should like to make clear that my unwillingness to build a new House does not imply any lack of support for the House system, for which I am a staunch advocate. In today's financial climate, however, if we were to wait until we could raise the millions of dollars required to build a House, the proposal would have to be postponed for an indefinite period. As a result, it seems prefereable to proceed immediately to develop some imaginative new form of housing that will be attractive at least for the students who will occupy it. If funds for a new House become available in the future, such a House could then be built and the present housing turned over for graduate student or other use. Derek C. Bok   President