Cosigners Respond

To the Editor of The Crimson:

The undersigned, all of whom have worked over the years to assist in the development of the minority student program of the Harvard Medical School, take this opportunity to express our satisfaction with, and commendation of, the program. We shall continue to give our enthusiastic support to the program, and we encourage the Faculty to take steps to maintain its excellence.

In his comments to The Harvard Crimson of Friday, May 14, Dr. Davis did not draw a clear distinction between his personal views and the substance of the statement submitted to the Faculty Council of the Medical School, of which we were cosignors. We are particularly concerned that the report published in The Crimson last Friday must have caused undue anguish for many of our students who are members of minority groups.

Furthermore, we strongly deplore The Crimson's intemperate account of the matter, and particularly the failure of its editorial staff to check the accuracy of the report published, especially with reference to the document submitted to the Faculty Council over our signatures. The January 13 statement to the Faculty Council, which The Crimson apparently did not see, is not an attack on the minority program. It does imply that the program and its graduates would be ill-served if there were any indication that degrees were not awarded on the basis of a single standard. Harold Amos   Porter Anderson   David Hubel   Manfred L. Karnovsky   Fred S. Rosen