Women Ask University to Settle Discrimination Issue at Harvard

Members of the National Organization of Women (NOW) yesterday presented President Pusey with a petition asking Harvard to "take affirmative action to resolve the issue of discrimination on the basis of sex."

Copies of the petition-which was signed by over 1400 Harvard students, Faculty, alumni, and employees-were also presented to Mary I. Bunting, President of Radcliffe; Dean Dunlop; Francis Burr, a Corporation member; and the deans of ten Harvard professional schools.

The petition asked that Harvard create a standing University Committee on the Status of Women to "determine the present status of women at Harvard, hear specific complaints of discrimination, and make recommendations to the governing bodies of the University to assure equitable practice."

Women Faculty

On March 11 the Women's Faculty Group (WFG) presented Dean Dunlop-at his request-with a preliminary report proposing the creation of a Faculty committee to study the status of women in the Faculty, the Graduate Administration. The Faculty Council will begin consideration of the report at its meeting today.

"Although its focus is limited to a small segment of the University, we entirely approve of this report as an initial attempt to define some important areas for study," two members of the NOW Equal Academic Opportunity Task Force wrote in a letter accompanying the petition.

The NOW petition differs from the WFG proposal in that it requests a standing University Committee-rather than a Faculty Committee-to study the status of women throughout the University rather than simply the Fac-School of Arts and Sciences, and the ulty, GSAS, and Administration.

"We are concerned with the entire range of women in the University," Roberta Benjamin '62-one of the signers of the letter-said yesterday. "They all suffer from the same attitude of discrimination."

Janet Martin, assistant professor of Classics and a member of the WFG executive committee, said last night that she agreed with the basic concern of the NOW petition and that "some sort of wide consideration would be a good thing." but added, "Our committee will look into the active exclusion of women at Harvard, not with the view to changing their status, but to examining where the door shuts."