Conservatives Form Discussion Group

Twenty conservative students have banded together in opposition to Harvard's "overwhelming liberal bias" and formed the George Washington Society, Kenneth G. Brownell '76, the organization's president, said yesterday.

The society's program director, Charles R. Kesler '78, said the society seeks to satisfy Harvard's need for a "reasonable, intelligent conservative voice" by conducting lectures and discussions that present the conservative alternative to Harvard's "predominantly Eastern liberal mentality."

The society's goal is to stimulate intellectual debate, not to take militant political action. "We don't sit-in, walk-out, or blow-up," Kesler said.

Kesler said the society's small enrollment is attributable to its low key approach, rather than to a dearth of conservative support on campus. He estimated that 30 to 40 per cent of the student body was "right-leaning.",

"Although the opinion mongers like The Crimson are undoubtedly liberal, and even socialist, they convey a distorted picture of the student body. A substantial, latent conservative stratum exists," Kesler said.

The society has been revived this fall after a two-year lapse. Brownell said the club disbanded two years ago because its members, all close friends, graduated without leaving anyone to carry on.

A "subtle" liberalism pervades throughout all of Harvard's disciplines. Brownell said. "Certain liberal assumptions are not questioned, and when conservatives do question them, their objections are not taken seriously."

Members of the society agreed that the extent of the bias varied from department to department, but the Economics department was by far the worst offender. "The department doesn't have a single monetarist professor, and its uses Samuelson, a blatantly Keynesian text, in its introductory course," Timothy M. Cranston '77, the society's vice president, said yesterday.

Cranston also said Harvard's liberal bias can be partly attributed to the vast amount of funding it receives from the "predominantly liberal" federal government.

Members agreed that a conservative has more difficulty expressing his opinion in classes than a Marxist. "People are a lot less willing to hear someone defend American institutions than to hear him tear them down with a Marxist critique," Brownell said.

Mathew A. Malkan '77, a member of the society, said yesterday he generally preferred not to express his opinion in section because of possible reprisals from sectionmen.

Brownell said the student body is much more tolerant of conservative opinion that it was in the late '60s. "People are reacting to the excesses of the welfare state and reevaluating conservatism.