Columbia Protest

The administration of Columbia University has dropped plans to crowd students in two undergraduate dorms next September in the wake of rapid and well-organized student protest, an assistant dean of that university said last week.

Roberta Campbell, assistant dean for residents, said William J. McGill, president of Columbia University, attributed the administration's decision to drop the proposal aimed at alleviating an expected housing shortage to student protest.

Campbell said the administration has not yet found an alternate solution to the housing shortage. An increase in the size of next year's freshman class and a growing trend among students towards living on campus have caused the shortage, she said.

Gordon Kahn, one of the organizers of Students for the Preservation of an Acceptable Campus Environment, said the protest succeeded because activists were "able to get together an organization of every major student group on campus."