Celebration

To the Editors of The Crimson:

My confidence in your objectivity, and my trust in your esteem for those who devote themselves to enhancing the opportunities of undergraduates, were shattered this morning.

Many of us have found ourselves, in the last few days, in an unhappy situation. We have found that the planning committee for the student 350th celebration underestimated the number of students who wanted to attend the Grand Ball. As a result, many students cannot attend, and many others, who can attend, will have had to wait in long lines, and to have been subjected to a lottery. Given this unfortunate situation, it is no wonder that the community is upset. Justifiable anger and frustration have turned, however, especially in the pages of your newspaper, to unjustifiable and arrogant outrage.

It astounds me that you can accuse me--and my colleagues who, like me, volunteered time this summer to help organize a celebration for undergraduates--of "betraying" the voters who elected me. Along with Joe Kahn, the president of The Crimson, I did plan a symposium on the future of higher education. William Bennett, the Secretary of Education, will be coming to Memorial Hall to discuss this topic with all interested members of our community. Several students have been invited to have tea with him afterward. Granted, not everyone at Harvard may have tea with the Secretary. But any reasonable person would agree that the tea is a rare opportunity for some students to take a bigger part in the secretary's visit. We should be happy that some will have this good fortune, rather than complain that everyone cannot.

So this is my "betrayal." You tell me that it is a betrayal to work toward creating an exciting week on campus. You imply that my work is detrimental to the interests of undergraduates. You tell me that instead of enjoying the planning of this week as a time for undergraduates to celebrate Harvard and each other, [I] should have objected to it, and tried to stop it. I tell you that your attitude argues for killing any celebration at all. There might be no house dinners, no Bandstand, no campus-wide cookout. There might be no dance. This is the mindset your harsh and accusing attitude creates. If you have ever wondered why more people do not give of themselves to make Harvard a better place, then you should look at your very visible efforts to vilify such people.

I am not defending the celebration as the best of all possible worlds. I truly believe--and I have said so many time--that the planning committee could have solicited more input. The planning committee, if time had permitted last spring, could have asked the house committees and the Undergraduate Council to take an active role in planning the celebration, instead of just reponding to it. Perhaps, as I have suggested, a free, campuswide, semi-formal dance in Tercentenary Theater might have replaced the ball. Yes, more input would have created a better celebration.

But this celebration is by no means as bad as you make it sound. Given the constraints of time, and the lack of available personnel, the committee did an extraordinary job of planning the week. No randomly picked panel could have done better. All of us, if we choose, will enjoy at least some of the celebration, and participate in some events. The celebration as it stands is not so "unhappy" at all. Brian C. Offut '87   Chairperson, Undergraduate Council