Inactive Duty

The action taken by the Student Council Monday night in removing two of its members for failure to attend meetings is unprecedented in the history of the Harvard Council. Whereas the now defunct constitution provided that a member could be ejected from the Council if he were grossly negligent in the performance of his duties, the new constitution makes attendance the test of competence, and specifies that a two-thirds vote of the Council may remove members who miss five meetings in a term.

Since it is the first group to work under the new constitution, the present Council feels that it has a peculiar responsibility to see that none of the new provisions become dead letters. While it is rather late in the term for such a move, the removal is justified because both men affected by the novel proceeding were elected in last February's "rump" election and the passage of time was required for them to demonstrate their lack of interest in Council work. In an ordinary year the effect of the new constitutional provision would be to eject members who chronically neglect to attend meetings in November or December.

The Council has acted fairly and with adequate notice to the men concerned. While the removal does not constitute any personal reflection on the men who were ejected (except an explicit lack of enthusiasm for Council activities), it poses a challenge to the newly inaugurated practice of electing rather than appointing the bulk of Council membership. Undergraduates have demonstrated that they want the Council to have closer ties with the student body than it has had in the past. But, if it is to be more than a debating society, the Council must also be able to perform its work effectively. The ideal Council member should be popularly selected as well as suited, both by inclination and ability, to carry his load of the Council's duties. This step which the Council has been forced to take should serve in future elections to limit nominations to those men who intend to take their Council work seriously and to guide undergraduates to choose the best men for the position.