Bok Opposes Two Reforms Designed to Alter ACSR

President Bok yesterday rejected two proposed reforms of the Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility (ACSR) designed to make the committee more representative of the Harvard community and to ensure its members are democratically elected.

In a letter to the Undergraduate Committee on Harvard Shareholder Responsibility (UCHSR), which selects the college's ACSR member and is sponsoring the proposed ACSR reforms, Bok approved the selection of graduate school faculty and student ACSR members by a fixed system of rotation of the graduate schools from which they are drawn. He also deferred two procedural reforms of the ACSR to the judgement of the advisory committee.

The proposed reforms of the ACSR, supported by 12 House committees, the Student Assembly and the Freshman Council, would provide for worker representation, ensure the committee's members are selected democratically, open the committee meetings to the Harvard community, and require the advisory committee to state publicly its agenda prior to each meeting.

In the letter, Bok states his goal with the ACSR "is not to create...a body that somehow or other appears to reflect (numerically, ideologically, and in other ways) the Harvard community."

Bok notes the "impossibility" of the ACSR accurately representing all of Harvard's students, faculty, many tens of thousands of alumni and thousands of employees, parents of students, extension students, and others who take an active interest in Harvard's affairs."

Julie E. Fouquet '80, the chairman of UCHSR who resigned from the ACSR, said yesterday UCHSR does not believe the ACSR would ever be "ideally representative" but believes non-administrative employees would offer a "new and valuable perspective" if they were given seats on the committee.

Bok rejected UCHSR's contention that the ACSR gives undue weight to financial concerns when reviewing Harvard's investments. He states, "any advice offered by the ACSR...must take into account all relevant factors, and in most situations in life, costs are relevant when trying to choose the responsible course of action."

Fouquet said that while the ACSR "can't close its eyes to money entirely," it must discuss the social and ethical issues surrounding Harvard's investments, issues she says it often skirts.

Bok rejects the proposed reform that would ensure the democratic election of all ACSR members stating that elections would most likely "suffer" from a lack of information, low voter participation, "and other factors tending to produce a committee that was neither representative nor best equipped to carry out its tasks."

Fouquet said all ACSR members should be democratically elected by their constituencies to ensure that they are well qualified and receptive to the opinions of those they represent.

UCHSR will meet this afternoon to discuss Bok's reaction to the proposed reforms and the future of the ACSR's undergraduate seat. The committee resolved in January to withhold the undergraduate representative to the ACSR until it received a response to its proposed reforms.

William D. Swislow '79, an UCHSR member, said yesterday that if the ACSR is not democratic or representative of the Harvard community, he does not see why UCHSR "should be involved in the ACSR's processes at all." Swislow said he will probably support a boycott of the ACSR's undergraduate seat.

Michael A. Spence, professor of Economics and the chairman of the ACSR, said yesterday the ACSR will adopt one of the procedural reforms by distributing the committee's agenda to the Harvard Gazette and other University newspapers prior to each meeting.

Spence said the ACSR has not yet discussed the second procedural reform, that of opening its meetings to the Harvard community