Epps Interview

Houses with fewer minority students should try to attract minority freshmen to secure a more even distribution among all houses, Archie C. Epps III, dean of students, chairman of the Committee on Race Relations, said this week while taping a radio interview for WHRB.

Currier, Leverett, and Mather Houses tend to have a disproportionate number of blacks, John J. Ledecky '79, a member of the committee and a Crimson editor, said yesterday.

Epps said that although students need to be in an environment where there is significant representation of all races, "House assignments by race is not an acceptable solution."

Separatism

The separatism in many dining halls in the form of all-black tables is unhealthy for both blacks and whites, Epps said. "Students should mix, not hang together," Epps told WHRB. He added that black separatism also causes feelings of rejection, hostility, and bewilderment among whites.

WHRB will air Epps' interview Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

"We at the college should have a different attitude toward race relations than that in the larger world. Otherwise, this very famous diversity we talk about at Harvard does not really exist," Epps added.

The committee is designing a questionnaire to determine undergraduate attitudes toward race relations at Harvard, Peter Dale, associate professor of English literature and a member of the Race Relations Committee, said yesterday.

Donald Barfield, assistant senior tutor in Adams House and also a member of the committee said yesterday, "We've got to get an idea of where the chairs are in the room before we can move them around."