Eighty-one graduates of the Class of 1900 have asked President Eisenhower to form a non-political peace commission, with himself as honorary president, to explore the means of ensuring a "durable peace."

In an open letter to the President, the alumni proposed the establishment of an agency, "somewhat similar in structure to the Red Cross." The Red Cross is a non-governmental body, closely associated with the Government.

"The problem encompasses far more than lies within the field of the Government," the letter said. "It reaches into the fields of religion, racial prejudice, nationalism, economics, mass psychology, and many other fields."

By establishing the commission of about 20 men and women from both the business world and the professions, the group believed that "the coordinated, matured judgments of the clearest minds might provide a program for the country at large, a program that would supplement and fortify the comprehensive efforts which the Government is making."

If such a commission were set up, the alumni believed it might "stimulate to positive action many segments of our people who today, without leadership, participate only passively in the search for peace, and it might lead the way for a spiritual and moral resurgence throughout the country and perhaps the world."