Harvard May Have Broken Treaty

A 300-year agreement between Harvard and the Commissioners of Massachusetts may sound like a bit of academic lore, but this "obligation"--which would provide Indian students with financial aid--is giving the University attorneys a legal headache.

Last month, a state representative submitted a bill that would force Harvard to provide 25 full fellowships for Indian scholars. The bill asserts that in a 1693 agreement, the University consented to "rent free" studies in return for permission to demolish Indian College.

Indian College was built in the 1650s by the Commissioners. Harvard replaced the building in 1695 with Stoughton College, and agreed that the new College would house Indian students rent free.

Of course, Stoughton College no longer exists, and the extent of Harvard's obligation now is unclear. But Daniel Steiner '54, general counsel to the University, said Wednesday that Harvard has fulfilled its obligations.

Robert H. Quinn, attorney general for Massachusetts, decided not to accept Steiner's word. This week, he appointed Daniel B. Bickford, a Boston lawyer, to investigate possible violations of Harvard's three Indian trust funds.

This appointment represented a small victory for Harvard. Steiner told Quinn three weeks ago that the attorney general, not the legislature, had jurisdiction in this matter.

One of the trust funds, the Stoughton Bequest of 1701, did not disperse any scholarship aid until 1923, when the land donated by William Stoughton was sold. However, since at least 1840, the official register has made no mention of aid to Indian students in the Stoughton trust.

Steiner said that the next edition of the Register would include the proviso for Indian students.