Responding to Criticism, Towne Promises More Diverse Panels

In response to criticism about the lack of Asian Americans on this year's Junior Parents Weekend panels, administrators have pledged to make future panels more ethnically representative of the student body.

The selection process of the Parents Weekend Committee, which arranges the panels, will also undergo changes next year, Assistant Dean of Students Ellen Hatfield Towne said Monday.

The oversight regarding ethnic diversity on the panels last March resulted in a 50-student protest at one of the panel discussions, during which students distributed a flyer criticizing "institutionalized racism" at Harvard. The flyer, entitled "The Peculiar Institution," was the first official act of a new coalition of student minority groups.

Towne, the director of the parents weekend, said the committee members have traditionally been chosen based on suggestions from house masters.

"In the past, we worked with the group of students that we knew," Towne said. "Now we are going to advertise more that we are looking for students to take part in the committee. We are going to ask for student recommendations and we'll advertise in the house bulletins."

But Joan R. Cheng '95, co-president of the Asian American Association (AAA) who has met with Towne on the issue, said the new guidelines extend beyond the committee's formation. She said the new committee must seek the advice of minority groups when formulating the panel discussions.

"When the topics of discussion are selected, [Dean Towne and the student committee] will contact the relevant student [organizations] for input. They didn't do that this year," she said.

Cheng said that AAA and the other Asian American student organizations, which appeared to have the most complaints about representa- Stion on the panels, are generally pleased with the results of the meeting with Towne that followed the protests.

"I realize there's only so much you can do," she said. "[The reforms] are mostly taken on faith but we're happy with them.

"I realize there's only so much you can do," she said. "[The reforms] are mostly taken on faith but we're happy with them.