Officials Mum on Report That Solzhenitsyn Will Be Commencement Speaker

Alumni officials yesterday refused to confirm a published report that Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, exiled Soviet author and Nobel laureate, will be this year's Commencement speaker.

Howard Gillette '35, acting general secretary of the Associated Harvard Alumni (AHA), said yesterday he "is not in a position to say anything about" a report in Tuesday's issue of the Boston Herald-American, which said Solzhenitsyn will address the annual AHA gathering on Commencement Day, June 8.

"Any announcement at this time would be premature," Gillette said.

He added that he has not made final arrangements with anyone to address the meeting, which follows the traditional morning graduation exercises.

"The situation hasn't been finally set yet," Gillette said. He did not say whether the AHA selection group had considered Solzhenitsyn as a possible choice for the address.

Llewellyn J. Marczuk '78, Harvard first marshal, said yesterday he had understood that the AHA had chosen a speaker for the ceremony, but had decided not to release the name before Commencement.

Mum's the Word

"I don't think the speaker wants it announced ahead of time, for his own reasons," Marczuk said. He added that the AHA had consulted with the Harvard and Radcliffe class marshals on the choice of a speaker, but did not indicate what names the group had discussed.

Some sources close to the alumni office speculated this week that the Commencement speaker may receive an honorary degree at Commencement. The names of honorary degree recipients are traditionally kept a secret until Commencement.

Gillette would not discuss whether Solzhenitsyn, or any of the possible choices for Commencement speaker, would receive an honorary degree.

He added that the AHA will probably announce the name of the speaker after the group makes all the necessary arrangements.

Neither Solzhenitsyn nor his press spokesman could be reached for comment yesterday. However, Frances Lindsley, Solzhenitsyn's editor at Harper and Row Publishers, said yesterday the author does not normally discuss "non-literary matters" with the press.

Sources in the University police said earlier this week the department is planning extraordinary security precautions for Commencement week. They speculated that the extra protection was prompted by the decision of one or more "international figures" to attend the Commencement.

Solzhenitsyn, author of "The First Circle" and "The Gulag Archipelago," was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1974 after repeated criticism of the Soviet government.

However, Lt. Lawrence J. Murphy of the University police, said yesterday he has not ordered any special precautions for Commencement, and added that he has not been told to make any special preparations for receiving dignitaries that week.

Security arrangement are "the same as last year," Murphy said. "I don't think we've varied it all all in the last few years," he added.

Last year's Commencement speaker was Rep. Barbara Jordan (D-Tex.).

Last month, the senior Class Committee announced that comedian Rodney Dangerfield will deliver this year's Class Day address, which will take place on June 7, the day before Commencement