1100 Attend Junior Weekend

More than 500 parents arrived from across the country on Friday to attend Junior Parents Weekend events and see how their children live, study, eat and sleep away from home.

This year's registration for the event, tallying more than 1100 students and parents, surpassed last year's attendance by more than 100 people, said Eleanor C. Marshall, director of the Harvard-Radcliffe Parents Association.

Marshall attributed the high attendance this weekend to the dedicated work of the Junior Parents Weekend Committee, which she said met regularly and worked hard to maximize publicity for the weekend.

Parents from states as distant as California, Nebraska and Alabama and countries as far as Japan journeyed to Cambridge for the weekend's events, which will continue through today.

Although many parents seemed enthusiastic about the weekend's events, which include a series of faculty lectures and house receptions, one mother said she was disappointed that there were no lectures scheduled to discuss students' post-college plans.

The first faculty lecture, given by Robert M. Coles '50, professor of Psychiatry and Medical Humanities, drew a capacity crowd that filled Science Center B and overflowed into Science Center A, where audience members viewed the lecture on closed circuit TV. Coles, who spoke on the "Moral Energy of Young People," drew a standing ovation for his talk.

Coles' lecture "was really excellent," said Charles N. W. Keckler '90, who attended it with his parents. "It was a fine start for the parents weekend."

Many parents said this weekend was a chance for a more relaxed, informal view of Harvard than the freshman parents weekend they attended two years ago. "I feel more at home," said Sandy A. Rothberg, mother of Madeleine A. Rothberg '90.

And one parent, former Eliot House resident John P. Adams '60, said this weekend showed him a lifestyle "light years apart" from his own experience at Harvard. Adams said that students are more informal today. But he said some things have not changed.

"Still, at 4:30, as the light slowly fades away, you can see people scurrying about with books in their hands and sad faces," Adams said.

On Friday, parents had the opportunity to relive the 350th celebration on film, and to survey the campus during a special Crimson Key tour.

This afternoon, Dean of Radcliffe College Philippa A. Bovet and Dean of Harvard College L. Fred Jewett '57 will host a reception for visiting parents. Other events scheduled for today include a variety of faculty lectures, a student panel discussion, and an assembly with President Bok.

Members of the student committee that organized the weekend's event said they were pleased with the results thus far. "It all went very, very, smoothly," said Bridget E. Mahoney '90, co-chairman of the junior parents weekend committee.

Mahoney, who said she was impressed by the number of parents who came, said that students whose parents were not visiting attended scheduled events such as Coles' lecture as well. She said this indicated that the events were well chosen and "appealing to all."

Although parents may be having fun this weekend, they may not be as excited when they recieve the tuition bills next fall. The parents' visit conincides with a 6.5 percent tuition hike announced yesterday.

"6.5 percent is a little steep. When I read the reasons for it I didn't quite buy it," said parent George Lampros, business manager of the chemical labs at Harvard.

"As long as I can afford it, it's my pleasure," said visiting parent Christine N. Davidson.