The Columbia Resolution

The resolution passed by the Columbia College faculty requests the university administration not to release class standings to Selective Service boards. This is only a recommendation--the final decision rests with Grayson Kirk, president of the university.

If Kirk opts for the faculty plan, Columbia will become the third college in the nation to withhold class ranks, joining Wayne State University and Haverford College.

Theoretically, Kirk does not have to confer with anyone before deciding the fate of the faculty proposal. But in practice he will wait until the University Council has deliberated on the issue. The Council, composed of two members of each faculty, and the dean of each school, and certain administrators, is scheduled to meet on February 21.

The agenda for that meeting has not been drawn up yet, according to Edward B. McMenamin, secretary of the University. (But Dean Truman has officially referred the proposal to the Council, so it seems highly unlikely that the Council will fail to consider it.)

On that, same day, February 21, the Columbia student council will poll undergraduates on the question. "Should the University compile and release class rank to draft boards?" The Council first planned the referendum early last semester, before the faculty had taken any action. What would have been a plea for action (assuming the tally will be against class rank) is now reduced to an opportunity to support the College faculty.

There is one important aspect to the Council poll: it will be open to all undergraduates, rather than just students at the College. This includes Barnard girls, engineering students and night students. Each School will vote separately and will be tallied separately. The faculty which passed the Shenton-Hovde proposal is the College faculty. Theoretically, then, the proposal only concerns students in the College. If the proposal is enacted, however, McMenamin said last week, it is "reasonably certain" that it would apply to all undergraduates.