Text of Butler Memorandum

Memorandum for all members of the Board of Overseers:

October 20

Attached is a copy of an article which appeared in the Crimson on Tuesday, October 7, and describes one of the subjects discussed at our October 4 meeting.

As all of you are well aware, it is essential that the Board's activities remain confidential unless and until there is general agreement as to public disclosure and then only by those specifically authorized individuals who will respond on behalf of the Board of Overseers as a whole.

Typical of the press, I am afraid, the one thing I did tell the Crimson reporter was that, since President Bok is a full-fledged ex officio member of the Board of Overseers, it is clear that he will, of course, attend all meetings and participate fully in all discussions of the Board.

There will be a meeting of the Executive Committee in November to discuss arrangements for the December meeting; if any of you have any suggestions, I would be pleased to have them. Well in advance of the December meeting the Board will be sent information on the subject of divestment, including a summary of Harvard's position which will refresh your recollection of previous reports to the Board on this subject.

If any Overseers have information regarding divestment which they would like to provide to the Board in advance of the meeting, please forward it to [Secretary to the Board] Mr. [Robert] Shenton.

I trust we will not have a repetition of "leaks" of Board discussions. However, if we should, the Board will have to consider what steps, if any, it should take, including a possible limitation on the types of subjects considered at full Board meetings. Any diminution in the free and open exchange of information at Board meetings (given in the expectation of complete confidentiality, which has heretofore been the case), which has been a hallmark of all Board meetings during at least the four years I have served, would be, I am confident, most distressing to all of us. In dealing with the press, a simple "No Comment" followed by a polite "Goodbye" will usually do the trick.

I look foward to seeing all of you on December 7 when we will undoubtedly have an interesting, challenging, frank and private exchange of views on the subject of divestment.

S.C. Butler

P.S. In view of the recent G.M. and IBM announcements [that they are withdrawing their operations from South Africa] this debate may be largely moot by December in any event.