Kirkland Withdraws from Parade of Stars Balloting

To the editors:

On may 3, during a regular meeting, the Kirkland House Committee voted to request Parade of Stars to withdraw our nomination for Best House. The committee requested that Kirkland be removed from all ballots, publicity and all further consideration for any award from Parade of Stars.

Kirkland House Committee is officially unwilling to be affiliated with Parade of Stars, even tacitly, because of the Committee's concern with certain features of this contest. The Committee believes that publicity for balloting for Parade of Stars was insufficient to make a fair contest; that popularity contest is an insufficient way to compare the merits of the Houses; and that competition among the Houses in general ins counter-productive since each House strives to be the best community it can be, regardless of any other House.

This action is taken with no intent to disparage efforts to celebrate excellence at Harvard, an effort for which we are all grateful. Rather, the Committee's differences with Parade of Stars' particular method of celebration force our dissociation. The Committee is happy to work with Parade of Stars or any other group in the future to devise a system of co-operative celebration in which we could participate enthusiastically. JUSTIN R. LONG '99   Secretary, Kirkland House Committee   May 4, 1998