CHUL, in 'Straw Vote,' Approves Gomes Report

In a noncommittal "straw vote" last night. Committee on Houses and Undergraduate Life (CHUL) members approved the Gomes Committee recommendation to form a foundation for improving campus race relations.

The decision followed a lengthy discussion by the committee and a presentation by Farish A. Jenkins, professor of Biology and a Gomes Committee member. The Rev. Peter J. Gomes, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and committee chairman, had been scheduled to make a presentation at the CHUL meeting last night but was unable to attend.

The Faculty will discuss the Gomes report at its meeting today. The undergraduate Third World Center Organization yesterday voted to reject the proposal.

Twenty-two CHUL members voted in favor of the Gomes report, while one voted to approve a different type of Third World facility and 11 members abstained.

Although the vote does not necessarily mean that CHUL members wholeheartedly support the Gomes proposal, it does "indicate our commitment to improving race relations on campus," David Burke '82, a committee member, said after the meeting.

President Bok originally commissioned the Gomes Committee last spring to investigate demands by minority students for the formation of a campus Third World center.

During his presentation last night, Jenkins said the committee had determined that a Third World center would not have the support of a significant number of minority students."

"The Foundation should, however, still be considered on its own merits," he added.

Lydia P. Jackson '82, president of the Black Students Association and a member of the Third World center group, called the organization's withdrawal from the Foundation "a matter of priorities."

"Until the University recognizes the foremost priority of addressing the concerns and needs of Third World students, we cannot support endeavors such as the race relations Foundation," she said.

Nancy P. Randolph, special assistant to Bok for affirmative action and another member of the Gomes committee, last night postponed detailed comment until she returns to Cambridge from Kentucky. But she said, "I think there is excellent potential for meeting the needs of Third World students in a Foundation--it's difficult to predict now the role the Foundation will play."

Randolph added that the Gomes report "speaks for itself and is explicit about meeting the needs of Third World students."

The Rev. Peter J. Gomes, chairman of the now-dissolved committee which forwarded the Foundation proposal and Plummer Professor of Christian Morals, is expected to arrive from England--where he is spending a sabbatical at Oxford--in time for the Faculty debate today.

Hill said the organization "disagrees with Bok's open letter statement that money for a special interest group like Third World students is not worth Harvard's financial investment."

The Gomes committee held meetings for seven months starting last summer, questioning administrators on their perception of the status of minorities.

Collins said that at first minority student members of the committee thought no proposal would be made, but subsequent meetings showed the possibility of suggesting a proposal amenable to both students and Faculty on the committee.

Before departing on his sabbatical in late January, Gomes said he anticipated some "necessary difficulties" in implementing the Foundation. First, the Faculty will "look very seriously at the proposal since it is being asked to put up money for something that is not strictly an academic agency," he said.

The creation of a Foundation would require "the strong intervention of the Dean (Rosovsky)." Gomes said, adding that the Faculty should express commitment to community ideals. "For the last two decades, social responsibility at Harvard has largely been divorced from academic responsibility," he said.

The Third World Center Organization continues to support an institution that would act as a resource center and forum for discussing minority issues, Collins said.

Sources said the group is investigating possible alternative funding arrangements for a center by contacting Third World alumni