Agents in the Yard?

The Senate Intelligence Committee reopened debate this week on the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) freedom to conduct covert activities on university campuses.

The proposed National Intelligence Act of 1980 would prohibit the CIA from using an affiliation with any private U.S. institution--not only schools, but the media and religious groups--"for the purpose of establishing or maintaining cover for any officer."

Adm. Stansfield Turner, director of the CIA, objected in testimony to the restraints the new charter would impose, arguing that "there can arise unique circumstances in which internal relationships with members of these institutions are not only warranted but may be the only means available for accomplishing important intelligence objectives."

President Bok, who testified before the committee in 1978, has long associated himself with the effort to limit on-campus CIA involvement. The intrusion of a government agency undermines the trust and integrity of academic relationships, Bok argued in 1978, after he established strict guidelines asking faculty members to notify the University of their ties with the CIA.

"The added effort and inconvenience required of the CIA to carry out its mission should be an acceptable price to pay in order to preserve the integrity of the academic profession, the independence of our educational institutions, and the atmosphere of openness and trust essential to free inquiry and learning," Bok testified.

Turner suggested the CIA maintain self-imposed regulations, only to be bypassed when events demand it--"In such circumstances," Turner testified, "internal regulations (of the CIA) permit waivers of the general prohibition against the use of these groups. I have granted those waivers on rare occasions."

"We have enough trust in our faculty to feel that they would respect the guidelines," Bok said earlier this week. However, Turner has in the past refused to say whether the CIA is obeying Bok's guidelines, and Bok admits he can't be absolutely sure whether or not Harvard faculty members are complying.

Debate on the issue will continue until about the first of April, by which time the CIA hopes to delete this section of the bill, and the academic community hopes to strengthen it.