THE SQUEAKY DOOR PRINCIPLE

To the Editors of The Crimson:

As "old attitudes and traditional procedures" mitigate against equal employment opportunity for women, selective advocacy, such as that represented in your March 13, 1973 editorial on Affirmative Action, confuses and impedes efforts to achieve equal employment opportunity for all.

It was Malcolm X I believe who characterized political morality as "the door that squeaks the loudest gets the grease." Since The Crimson is certainly aware of the fact that the Affirmative Action concept grew out of the civil rights movement and early legal victories for racial equality, to ignore the import of that concept for minority groups is to adopt an unfortunate and spurious political posture.

Harvard University is not in a position to establish selective priorities in its Affirmative Action efforts. But if The Crimson wishes to make that kind of judgment it should be based on a utilization analysis to determine the extent to which minorities and women are under-represented, not on the squeaky door principle. And make your demands accordingly. Blenda J. Wilson   Assoc. Dean for Administration   Harvard Grad. School of Education