Tufts Protesters Adopt New Tactics In Continuing Tenure Struggle

Several days after ending their three-day occupation of an administration building, a group of Tufts University students have adopted less drastic measures to force the administration to meet their demands on tenure procedure.

About 200 students evacuated Ballow Hall Saturday after sitting in to protest Tufts President Jean Mayor's refusal to grant tenure to Assistant Professor Peter Dreier. On Sunday, students picnicked on the lawn on Meyer's home and formed 11 committees to tackle the issue of student participation in tenure decisions

The group decided to submit their own amendments to an administration propsal which calls for the president's recommendation for the establishment of a student-faculty committee to review the tenure process, one student protester said.

Calling the existing proposal insufficient the student protesters formed a students-faculty committee of their own to write the amendments to the proposal. Committee members will work out the specific wording of the amendments at a meeting this afternoon.

The students hope to have a faculty member present their proposal at an upcoming faculty meeting

Jan Meriwether, a student spokesman for the group, said that one of the amendments yet to be worked out is a provision that would limit the absolute veto power the president currently holds over tenure decisions