Picket Line

Dear President Bok:

I am appalled--horrified might be a better word to read in today's [May 8] New York Times that my college is thinking about granting an honorary degree to a man who has shown himself again and again to be a toe of education higher education in particular I need not spell out the details for you, Though his contemptuous treatment of the Department of Education and his attempts to end student loans are among the many examples that could be cited.

I have tired my life in an atmosphere of deepest respect for Harvard. My grandfather father, several uncles, three brothers and a sister all were pa. Harvard alumni family. Indeed, at the invitation of the editors, I wrote a piece for last year's reunion issue of The Crimson about the difficulties and rewards of working my way through Harvard at the depth of the depression. When I received my degree a year after the rest of my class in 1935, the platform was graced by Albert Einstein. Thomas Mann and others who had made great contributions to our knowledge and culture. I was proud to spend even an hour in their company.

Now some of those in power at my college are proposing to debase that most honored of honorary degrees by awarding it to Ronald Reagan. If that day ever comes, you may be sure that I will be in Harvard Square to join the picket line of protesters that is sure to be there. William Morris '34