Friendship between students in America and Hungary was strengthened yesterday by the Student Council's commendable vote to establish a University-wide fund drive next week to relieve suffering of refugees. Seldom does such an urgent need require such immediate action; the University community must support the Combined Charities' emergency campaign to its fullest ability.

More than 27,000 refugees have fled from Hungary to Austria, and continue to stream across the frontier at a rate of a thousand a day. While the number of students included among these is still unclear, it is certain that many have forsaken their homes in order to pursue free academic inquiry. With the advent of winter, the homeless must be housed and fed--and present estimates place the cost at about six million dollars. Harvard's share of this load must be more than a token one.

Every cent of Harvard's gift will be spent directly, immediately, by the World University Service for the relief of suffering students. The University will express next Monday and Tuesday a profound humanitarian concern for repressed Hungary.