Despite a unanimous vote by the Harvard rugby club to pursue varsity status, Harvard Athletic Director Jack Reardon has advised the club to discontinue its varsity bid until other Ivy league rugby teams improve their programs.

The squad last week submitted a three-page proposal, drawn up after a November 20 team meeting, to Reardon for his input on how the club should approach the Athletic Department.

"You have to look at what else is going on in the [Ivy] League," Reardon said. "I think it would be difficult [for Harvard] unless a majority of teams decide to go varsity."

Harvard Rugby Club President Bruce Rossow said he now plans to meet with Reardon, adding, "We're still going to go for it."

The club desires varsity status principlely as a confirmation of the support the Athletic Department currently gives on a year-by-year basis--money, a playing field, and equipment.

Reardon has assured the team that the Athletic Department will continue to provide aid to the team. "As long as a lot of kids want to play, they will be provided with the space and the facilities," Reardon said.

But this is not enough, Kingston countered. "Jack [Reardon] wants an open contract, and to deal completely on faith," the sixth-year volunteer coach said. "But we have to look to the future."

"The only way we've gotten anything is because Martyn Kingston has gotten up at seven in the morning--as a student, not as a coach--and put forth the effort," Kingston continued. "The people [in the Athletic Department] have been good to me, but I don't think they realize the time we put in."

Kingston led the squad to a national championship in 1984, a second-place national finish in 1981, and a winning record in all six seasons. However, the sixth-year Sociology student plans to take the fall term of 1987 off to work on his thesis in South Africa.

"We have done pretty well," Kingston admits, "but I'm leaving, and the guys have put too much time in to let it go to waste. If I leave [permanently], what happens?"

The very future of the rugby program at Harvard may depend on the club and/or the Athletic Department hiring a coach, Kingston said.

"Rugby as a club sport is in danger," Kingston said. "How can the University expect such a grueling sport to function without a coach?"

Kingston said he would take the job of head or assistant coach if it was offered to him.

"Rugby needs supervision, and a coach must be hired. If they just let the guys run around without a coach in football there would be some serious injuries," Kingston said. "Both are contact sports and require supervision, and I hope the University responds accordingly."

A coach, Co-Captain Lanny Thorndike said, "would shore up a lot of our problem areas."