President Pusey yesterday confirmed reports that he will travel to Florence, Italy, when that city honors the University this May.

Mr. Pusey, who will be accompanied by his wife, plans to be gone from Cambridge for about a week.

The Florentine Union, a civic group which annually sponsors a series of cultural and historic celebrations in May, this year decided to pay tribute to Harvard's contributions to Florentine culture. On May 18 a special plaque will be put on the house used by professor James Russell Lowell when he did his studies on Dante in the mid-nineteenth century. In addition, a committee of dignitaries headed by the mayor of the city will make an official visit to the University's Center for Italian Renaissance Culture at Villa I Tatti.

An important part of the day's activities will be a speech in Italian by Myron P. Gilmore, professor of History, who will discuss the history of Harvard's cultural ties with Florence and the significance of Lowell's Dante studies. Lowell was one of the founders of the Dante Society and did much to popularize Dante studies in this country. Gilmore's address will be given in the Palazzo Vecchio, an imposing stone structure that dates back centuries to the beginning of the Florentine Republic.

Union Honors Foreign Scholars

The commemoration of Lowell's studies is part of a program of the Florentine Union to honor foreign scholars who have worked in Florence. Other writers selected in previous years include Dostoevsky and Browning.

Willed to the University by Bernard Berenson, the villa now is the base for six fellows appointed by Kenneth B. Murdock, the Center's director. The villa has a large library and an outstanding photographic archive, which includes more than 150,000 photos.

I Tatti Requires $2 Million

In his annual report, President Pusey noted that an additional endowment of $2 million will be required to sustain and expand satisfactorily the University's program at I Tatti.

Pusey said yesterday that an effort to raise the money has been "unsuccessful" thus far, and indicated that a new program is needed. His visit to the villa, however, is not connected to any fund raising attempts.

While in Florence Pusey may attend concerts at the world famous Maggio Musicale and watch the Giuco di Calcio, a wild and bruising soccer game played in Medieval costumes. The Calcio dates back to the Middle Ages and has attracted tourists to the city on the Arno for centuries.