A number of Harvard professors have been quietly working for Kevin H. White in his campaign for the Boston mayorality against Louise Day Hicks.

Samuel P. Huntington, professor of of government, has worked on White's police position paper with James Q. Wilson, associate professor of government. Adam Yarmolinsky, professor of law, has worked on a major fiscal speech for White. Edward J. Epstein, graduate student in Government and author of Inquest helped on a speech dealing with public safety. Richard Goodwin, speech writer for Pesident Kennedy, has also written a number of speeches for White.

Captured

The role of acedemicians in White's campaign, however, has been deliberately de-emphasized for two reasons, Harvard political workers say. First, Mrs. Hicks' favorite charge against her opponent is that White has been "captured by the liberal professors at Harvard."

Secondly, academicians are not in great demand during a campaign that is not waged over issues, Barney Frank, teaching fellow in government said yesterday.

"A Weird Campaign"

"It's a weird campaign," Frank said. "There are no points to be gained by proving that White is a bright man."

Frank, who is working full-time for White and planning his campaign schedule, explained that although academicians have been called in to assist task forces on specific issues, they are of less use in a local or state-wide campaign.

They are oriented towards Washington, he said. Most Harvard professors know more about the national budget than they do about the Boston budget; they would probably be at a loss to state the order of magnitude of the Massachusetts budget, Frank said. In a local race local officials are most helpful in formulating specific policy papers.

Because of the nature of the mayoral campaign, Frank said that some of the things that academicians could do, such as signing letters of endorsement, have been unnecessary or even counter-productive.