Abolish CRR, Say GSAS Poll Results

A limited poll taken last week of 151 students at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) revealed that more than 85 percent of the students believe the Committee on Rights and Responsibilities (CRR) should be abolished.

The Graduate Student Council (GSC) mailed ballots to all of the 2400 GSAS students two weeks ago, receiving responses from about 7 percent, said La Vaughn M. Henry, president of the GSC.

The ballots asked the graduate students to choose between reforming the CRR or replacing it with a more representative disciplinary body. Henry said the poll's purpose was to discover what proportion of graduate students were in favor of "throwing the CRR out the window."

Created at the height of protest against the Vietnam War in 1969, the CRR upholds rights of freedom of speech and movement to all members of the Harvard community.

Critics have continually charged that the CRR is not representative of the student body and that it can be used to prosecute students for their political beliefs. After laying dormant for 10 years, the CRR reconvened last spring to decide the cases of 18 students involved in two anti-apartheid protests.

Henry said that the results of the poll show a "genuine concern that there be some action taken by the administration to form a representative disciplinary body that democratically represents student concerns."

Of the returned ballots, 21 were votes for reform, while 130 were for abolishment of the body. Henry said he expected the low turnout rate.

"The majority of the graduate student population doesn't know the history of the CRR and doesn't feel warranted to vote," he said.

The GSC will send the findings of the poll to the subcommittee of the Faculty Council currently studying the CRR. The deans of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences also will be notified, Henry said.