The Mail BAGELS

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

I disclaim any desire to monopolize the CRIMSON's Letters-to-the-Editors column, for just today (Jan. 27th) you kindly carry a longish correspondence from me; but to-today's CRIMSON reports an address by Dr. Chase Peterson, Dean of Admissions in Harvard College, to a group of "Jewish faculty members," and I, along with other Faculty members with whom I have spoken, consider this report extremely disturbing. For my part, the perturbation is two-fold:

1)I think the use by faculty of ethnic principles of group segmentation-which is what a Jewish faculty group, Irish faculty group, Negro faculty group, etc, amount to-a sad and pathetic event, especially in Harvard University. It can only do harm to the intellectual and academic life of this institution and I should hope that those who participate in formalized ethnic groupings within the Harvard Faculty reflect again on their behavior.

2) It is extremely shortsighted to treat the issue of Jewish students' admissions in a manner that will help elevate ethnicity as such to a principle of admissions to Harvard College. The reported "investigation" of admissions status of Jews by Rabbi Ben-Zion Gold of the University Ministry will surely do this. It smacks of a crude and uncritical application to a university of methods of handling ethnicity that evolved in city machine politics.

Incidentally, I was not aware that members of the University Ministry at Harvard and Radcliffe were authorized to investigate anything at all relating to academic matters, and I suspect they would better serve this university by doing solely what they were appointed to do-namely, attending to religious matters.