Crimson Inflated Story

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Since the debate last Sunday on the issue of Undergraduate Council sponsorship of the alternative panel lecture on minority and women faculty recruitment scheduled to coincide with Junior Parents Weekend, there have been many questions about what actually happened. We wrote this letter to clarify this situation.

First, we must emphasize that we all remain committed to promoting increased minority and women faculty recruitment at Harvard. In addition, we remain committed to continuing the relationship between the Ad Hoc Committee on Minority and Women Faculty Recruitment and the Undergraduate Council, a relationship which has so far proved extremely beneficial for promoting this issue.

The Crimson's reporting of the debate on Sunday was unfortunate since it focused on the issue of conflict between the Ad Hoc Committee on Minority and Women Faculty Recruitment and the Undergraduate Council as a whole ["Council Refuses to Endorse Discussion," Feb. 26].

The conflict between the two bodies was over the time for an alternative panel lecture on Saturday. This point, an extremely minor one in comparison with the pressing issue of minority and women faculty recruitment, came to dominate both the debate in council and the reporting of the debate.

The actual results of the debate are as follows. The Undergraduate Council will hold a rally on Friday at 12:30 p.m., during Junior Parents' Weekend, to raise the issue of minority and women faculty recruitment at Harvard. This action in itself shows the Council's continued commitment to this issue.

The council declined to sponsor the alternative lecture on Saturday. Following the council's decision, the Ad Hoc Committee on Minority and Women Faculty Recruitment will not hold the lecture. Instead, it will be sponsored by the Minority Student Alliance, at 10:45 a.m. on Saturday.

The issue of conflict between the council and the ad hoc committee has been overemphasized. In actuality, we will continue to work together to promote the important issue of hiring more minority and women faculty at Harvard. Randy Jeffrey '91   Lucy H. Koh '91   Undergraduate Council Ad Hoc Committee on Minority and Women Faculty Recruitment