It took the events of the first week of May to jar Pusey out of his position and make him turn the corner that the Faculty had rounded on October 15. Following President Nixon's decision to invade Cambodia and the deaths of the students at Kent State, Pusey issued a statement in which he said, "I urge all officers of the University, while not neglecting their responsibilities toward the work of the University, to make every effort to accommodate interruptions in our normal procedures which may be occasioned in the next few days by acts of conscience relating to our country's involvement in the war in Southeast Asia."

As usual, Pusey was far behind the students and the Faculty. Three thousand people had voted two days before Pusey's statement to put the University on strike, joining over 300 other schools around the country. The Faculty voted optional pass-fail and credit grades on courses to free students for political work. Then both students and Faculty went to Washington to bombard their Congressmen with pleas to end the war. Pusey had to wait for an invitation from Nixon to go to the capital, but when it came he too went to "present explicitly our assessment of the desires, frustrations, and anger among students and Faculty across the nation-reactions that result from developments in Southeast Asia, hostile comments by members of the Administration about campus events and persons, and the tragic accidents that have occurred on several campuses."

Pusey is not a man of bold action. The Faculty is not geared to make quick decisions based on political events. Yet the events of this year taught them that they must learn how to be bold and outspoken if they are to retain any shred of respect that students might still hold for them.

Structural Reform

On October 17, the Fainsod Committee released a report on decision-making at Harvard and the role students should play in it. The Committee-chaired by Merle Fainsod. Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor, began meeting in February 1969 after the Faculty set it up in the wake of the ROTC sit-in at Paine Hall.

The report made two major reform recommendations, designed to streamline Faculty decision-making and to give students a larger voice in regulating their affairs outside the classroom. It recommended:

The setting up of a 20-man Faculty Council to act as "a combined dean's cabinet and steering committee of the Faculty":

The establishment of three student-Faculty committees on which students would have full voting power. These were the Committee on Houses and Undergraduate Life, to deal with regulations for students and procedures for dealing with infractions of these regulations; the Committee on Undergraduate Education, to consider ways in which the quality of education at Harvard could be improved; and the Committee on Students and Community Relations, to consider subjects of concern to students with regard to the relations between the University and the community.

The Faculty adopted, with only minor changes, all of the Fainsod Committee recommendations. The student-Faculty committees have been created and are beginning to deal with the problems in their areas.

The Faculty Council, which was designed to streamline and shorten Faculty meetings, has had less than complete success. In a Faculty as large as Harvard's it is difficult to consider major issues with even minimal comprehensiveness. Criticism of the Faculty for confusion and chaotic procedures came after the meetings held last spring in the wake of the April University Hall takeover. Yet the new form of government seems to be having its own difficulties. While votes are taken more quickly and debate is shortened, charges of railroading and fixed agendas are more common.

Perhaps more important than the structural reforms which took place as a result of the Fainsod Report are the changes which are taking place University personnel. Since last June two of the top Administration officials have resigned, Dean Ford and Dean Glimp. Their posts were filled by Pusey with men known for their ability to take stress and for their strong ideals. Dean May and Dean Dunlop, however, will at least offer to resign when Pusey's successor is chosen.

The President carries a great deal of prestige with the Faculty, and he presides at Faculty meetings. A strong President, with some sense of political acumen, could exercise a far greater role in the Faculty decisions than did Pusey. What kind of man will follow Pusey into the presidency will determine the fate of the University for years to come.

Curriculum Reform

In proposing the first major reexamination of Harvard undergraduate education in 25 years, Dean May on December 1 opened a pandora's box of problems and opportunities. He requested recommendations from all groups at the college-Faculty, departments. Houses committees-for revising the curriculum. Some of the problems on which May asked for proposals were:

What is the role of General Education? Given the increase in General Education in secondary schools, should Harvard insist on Gen Ed courses or simply return to distribution requirements?

Are non-honors concentrations worthwhile or should students be allowed to "concentrate" in General Education?

Should Harvard change from a basically liberal arts college to include specialized and vocational education?