Ten members of the Undergraduate Council signed a petition Thursday to censure council president Joshua D. Liston '95 for "misconduct" in organizing a rally last Wednesday to support Gina Grant.

According to the petition, signers believe that Liston "has misrepresented the council and his position as its president and chief spokesman."

The petition says that Liston implied that he was representing Harvard students' opinions in a press release he sent to news media on Tuesday morning.

In that release, Liston said, "I--and almost all other [Harvard] students--want to know if she was rejected because of a supposed `lie' on her application or if Harvard believes that Gina is morally suspect for something that occurred five years ago and for which she has already been punished."

In an interview late last night, Liston categorically denied that he has ever represented his views on the Grant case as being those of the council or the student body and lashed out at his accusers, who took issue with the manner in which Liston described himself in the release.

The press release reads: "Josh Liston, the President of the Harvard-Radcliffe Undergraduate Council, the student government of Harvard College, has called upon the College to re-admit Gina Grant and to specifically explain to the campus why her previous offer was rescinded."

Council member N. Van Taylor '95-'96 said Thursday that he signed the petition against Liston because he disliked Liston's conduct during the Grant controversy.

"In the last week, Josh did a lot of things that were stupid and mistakes," Taylor said. "He represented himself to the national news media using his position as president by implying that his position was supported by the U.C., the student body or both."

"He can't be using his position for his own personal campaigns," Taylor said. "It seems fairly clear that students arevery evenly split on the issue, that there is nomandate. He had no mandate, and he misrepresentedthat to the media."

The council president is elected only by hisfellow council members and not by a generalcampus-wide election. Last week Liston urged thecouncil to adopt popular elections for officers inorder to give them credibility with students andadministrators.

Council member Zamari M. Triana '98 said thatanyone unfamiliar with the council could easilymisconstrue the statement.

"The way I read the press release, it was from'Josh Liston, president of the student body,"Triani said. "Anyone who didn't know that the U.C.isn't universally respected by students would haveassumed that the statement meant that he wasspeaking for the student body. That isoverstepping his bounds."

Randall A. Fine '96, chair of the council'sstudent affairs committee, said that he receivedphone calls last week from news media who believedthe rally to be sponsored by the council.

"I was in the council office on Wednesdayafternoon and in about fifty minutes I got twentycalls from the news media asking where the studentgovernment rally was being held," Fine said.

"I asked what they were talking about, and theysaid it came over the AP wires. The reporters camebecause they thought Liston was going to speak onthe issue as the president of the U.C.," Finesaid.

Liston said that he has repeatedly been quotedin the news media as saying that he does notrepresent the council.