Dunlop Reaffirms Faculty Control of CRR

Dean Dunlop said yesterday that one of the main obstacles blocking resolution of the CRR issue is the fact "undergraduates are going through a series of fads; they really don't know quite what they want."

In a tedious two-hour meeting in the Faculty room at University Hall, Dunlop and Dean May talked with 20 representatives of Harvard and Radcliffe Houses, emphasizing repeatedly that the final power for the establishment of an internal disciplinary body lay with the Faculty.

While Dunlop and May did offer their views intermittently throughout the meeting, most of the discussion was limited to the student representatives. Dean May called the group together two weeks ago to discuss issues such as the appropriate body to discuss the CRR, the legitimacy of such a body, and student representation on it.

The students, all of them "legitimate representatives" appointed by their respective House committees, agreed that the conception of the CRR as it presently stands was fundamentally wrong, as House votes against it have testified. Virtually every Harvard and Radcliffe House voted several weeks ago not to send student representatives to the committee.

Although some students saw the question of the CRR as merely a procedural one, others saw it is a fundamental clarification of exactly where the power lies in the University.

The Question:

The group, after deciding that its primary function was as an advisory committee to the academic community, posed the question quite simply to Dunlop: "If we were to come up with a plan that was generally agreeable among the student body, would the plan be instituted by the University?"

Dunlop replied flatly, "Legislative authority lies with the Faculty." Pressed for elaboration, he added, "I think the Faculty would be disposed to give it serious consideration- they are generally quite receptive to reasoned and acceptable proposals. The trouble is, undergraduates are going through a series of fads; they don't really know quite what they want."

One student answered sharply, "The idea of a 'reasoned and acceptable proposal' means only that the Administration is trying for a minimal solution and, of course, after people are made completely sick of an issue, they will accept almost anything- even if it is nothing near what they really want."

The group adopted no resolutions yesterday, but agreed to meet again next Wednesday to further discuss the issues.