Bender Restates Rules On 'Public Disturbance'

Dean Bender reaffirmed the Administrative Board's punitive policy toward student rioters Wednesday, reminding the undergraduates that "mere presence at a public disturbance is sufficient cause for disciplinary action."

Referring to the mob that stormed Radcliffe after Sunday night's Boston power failure, the dean said that "If Harvard students do not show better judgment and more restraint, we will have to take more drastic measures than we have in the past."

A number of students' bursar's cards were picked up by Harvard police Sunday night, and the Administrative Board will make a final decision as to the fate of these men next Tuesday.

Disturbances Undesirable

Disturbances such as Sunday's are undesirable for four general reasons, Bender said:

1) They create a traffic problem in the Square, to the irritation of greater Boston residents. "We must realize that we are not a country college."

2) There is the chance that "dubious characters" will join the mob and do things for which the Harvard students will be blamed.

3) There is a danger to life and limb in such excited mob action--for instance, the fireman who had his eye cut by a thrown light bulb Sunday.

4) It is objectionable to Radcliffe to have men running through the women's dormitories as they did in the height of Sunday's "festivities."

"It can be a nice release to serenade Radcliffe, if the men stop at that," the dean said. "The Administrative Board is particularly concerned with educating the students on the dangers that such serenades can pose when they get out of hand."