Epps Criticized

To The Editors of The Crimson

I was disappointed but not surprised to read in last week's Crimson that Harvard has refused to contribute to the new Black Student's Guide to Colleges. ("Harvard Refuses to Help Black Guide," 6/29/82.) The justification--that "responses to questions about race are so easily distorted by misperception"--is just the sort of half-rationale that the college seems so adept at providing.

The most revealing part of the story, however, was Dean Epps comment that "We've had very bad luck with these kinds of guides." This explanation leaves a bad taste in my mouth; last spring. Dean Epps refused to talk with a reporter about gay and lesbian students at Harvard, saying that he'd had "bad luck" with past stories on that subject.

It appears from these remarks that Dean Epps feels his luck is none too good. From my perspective as an officer of the H-R Gay and Lesbian Students Association. I can say that it is minority students who are experiencing the "bad luck," and that unfortunately, a certain amount of it stems from the Dean of Students office. In my experience, the office is more often obstructionist than helpful, and by refusing even to address gay or black concerns. Dean Epps makes Harvard less hospitable to minority students than it has to be. Jonathan Handel '83   Summer President of the Harvard-Radcliffe Gay and Lesbian   Students Association