At a dramatic election meeting which culminated weeks of bitter inter-club dispute, Norman William Smith, Jr. '58 defeated Thomas A. Stalker '58 last night for the Presidency of the HYRC by a vote of 156-123.
The remainder of the Smith slate. Thomas Winter, Vice-President; Alec Dawson, Operations Director; Bruce Mac-Gregor, Secretary; and Jerry Fulmer, Treasurer, were elected with little trouble.
The vehemence with which the entire campaign had been waged and the intense lines of partisanship which had split the HYRC were clearly evident from the moment that President Donald P. Hodel '57 rapped the gavel. The presidential nominating speeches, made by James D. Gibbons '57 for Smith and by Hodel for Stalker were greeted with occasional whistles and hisses which brought about several appeals from the floor for order.
Neither of the nominating speeches directly mentioned the controversy which had been aired before the entire College in the past two weeks. It was evident, however, that the Smith faction was highly indignant over the findings of the Houlihan Committee, which, in effect, dismissed the eight charges of corruption which had been brought against the Stalker group.
As a gesture of conciliation after the election, John R. Thompson '57, former President of the HYRC and the Times-Republican, and one of the leaders of the Stalker group, seconded a motion proposing that Smith be declared President by acclamation.
Although the motion was not carried, Smith issued an optimistic statement expressing his hope "that the HYRC will now resume its position as the highly respected organization which the Harvard community desires." He felt that "the time has come to revitalize the Club and it is to this end that I and my colleagues of the newly-elected Planning Committee will direct ourselves in the year ahead."
After the election of Smith and Winter to the important positions of President and Vice-President, the meeting calmed down noticeably and the secret ballot was abandoned in favor of the speedier standing vote.
