Non-U Diplomas Need Approval

Official approval would probably be necessary for any large-scale plan to print Latin diplomas, it was learned yesterday. The Faculty is expected to re-open discussion of the diploma issue in its next scheduled meeting May 16.

It is also possible that a Faculty vote could, in effect, tell seniors, "Take the diplomas we give you or don't take any." Before the next Faculty meeting, the Deans, the Student Council, and the Class Committee will attempt to define the arguments for and against the change to English.

Apparently, President Pusey was not serious when he told the Class Committee before the recent riots that he would sign privately-printed Latin scrolls, because permission to use the University's plates is now by no means definite.

The Class Committee is no longer considering handing out 10,000 bogus English diplomas, especially in the light of favorable response to the letter it has sent to about 250 influential alumni. Besides the switch from Latin to English, the letter criticizes the new printing process (in place of engraving), the lack of establishment on the 1961 diplomas, the absence of the Harvard seal, and the quality of the paper.

It was also revealed yesterday that the original plan for the new diplomas would have rendered the Honors inscription into English--"with distinction," "with high distinction," "with highest distinction." But protest by members of the Administrative Board preserved the traditional cum laude notations.

A canvas of the entire College (except Eliot House) has collected 2289 signatures in support of a return to Latin diplomas, Eliot H. Stanley '63 reported Sunday.