Deans Name Group to Lead Commission on Inquiry Study

Dean Dunlop and acting Dean Ford have selected the seven-member committee that will re-examine the role of the Commission on Inquiry.

The Faculty Council approved the Deans' nominations last week. The committee includes the five present members of the Commission and two other Faculty members, including William Paul, McKay Professor of Applied Physics, who proposed the re-examination of the Commission.

The Faculty established the Commission in 1970 to serve as a clearinghouse for the inquiries or complaints of Harvard students and Faculty. The Commission can make recommendations on the complaints it receives, but cannot order direct action.

The Commission is made up of three Faculty members and two undergraduates. Its jurisdiction is limited to matters under the authority of the Faculty.

The Faculty approved the establishment of the committee last week, rejecting six other motions by Paul for reforms in the Committee on Rights and Responsibilities.

Paul said last night that he proposed the review because the present Commission "hasn't been dealing with the important questions." He said the Commission is "not completely representative," and that he thinks it would be "appropriate" for the Commission's membership to be changed so that it would have an equal number of Faculty and students.

James S. Ackerman, professor of Fine Arts, who is the chairman of the Commission, said yesterday that the Commission's main fault has been that it is not well enough known to undergraduates and therefore the problems it handles are "out of the student orbit."

David L. Johnson '74, one of the student members of the Commission, said yesterday that serving on the Commission is "a frustrating job" because "we never know how much we can recommend."

George F. Carrier, Coolidge Professor of Applied Mathematics, will head the committee examining the Commission. The other members of the committee are Ackerman, Philip Gelston '74, Johnson, Paul, Isadore Twersky, Littaeur Professor of Hebrew Literature and Philosophy, and Gail Pierson, assistant Professor of Economics. Pierson and Paul are not members of the Commission.