Freshman Council Pardons Twelve, Brings Three-Week Purge to an End

The Freshman Council last night concluded its three-week drive to expel inactive members.

It has "accepted back into the fold" 12 of 13 members who were in danger of being dismissed because they attended only three to six of 13 meetings through March 1.

The 13 had to appear before the executive committee and explain their absence in order to maintain their membership. All but one did. He resigned.

Alan Austin '70, president, said that most of the lax councillors had glee club or athletic conflicts with Council meetings.

This was the third and final phase of the Council purge. Three weeks ago they removed their Vice-President from office, who then proceeded to resign his membership. Two weeks ago, they summarily dropped eight members for attending fewer than three of the 13 meetings, making ten in all who have been purged.

The ten entries which have lost their representatives are now electing new ones. Ousted members are eligible to be re-elected, and this occurred in one of the two races completed so far.

The Council adopted a new constitution last night, including an article which will regularize the future dismissal of lax members. It stipulates that any member who attends less than half the fall term meetings must submit to a new election in his entry at the beginning of the spring term.

The Council had no constitutional basis for the present purge. Four freshmen attended last week's meeting to criticize the arbitrariness of the Council's dismissals.

Austin said he hoped that the constitutional provision would prevent poor attendance next year. He also noted that there had already been a marked increase in attendance since the present purge got under way.