AHA Candidates Silent on Policy

Two popularly nominated candidates will join twelve others selected by the Associated Harvard Alumni in this year's contest for five places on the Board of Overseers.

Terry F. Lenzner '61 and Cynthia Smith, J. D. '69 were placed on the ballot by petitions signed by more than 200 alumni. Lenzner and Smith were two of four candidates endorsed by the Committee of Concerned Alumni, a group of young graduates attempting to make the Board of Overseers more responsive to social issues.

The CCA recently sent a letter to each candidate for the Board asking, "What would you like to accomplish as an Overseer of Harvard College?" The AHA Nominating Committee responded by sending the candidates letters discouraging them from giving policy statements to the CCA.

Political Issues

According to the Nominating Committee, "an election for offices of this sort should not be waged on particular issues, but rather on the basis of people whom the Committee feels would make thoughtful and considered decision on such issues as might arise over a six-year period, many of which are probably not anticipated by anyone at this point."

Howard F. Gillette '35, General Secretary of the AHA, said the Nominating Committee has been studying the possibility of including policy statements with the ballots but decided against the procedure. "This is not a political election," he said.

The CCA believes that policy statements would aid in the choice of Overseers. CCA spokesman Brett Donham '60 says of the AHA. "They're trying to argue a difficult position: that it is a good thing that less information is made public."