A petition urging the end of the strike, and a Faculty-signed letter affirming the principle of academic freedom were issued yesterday.

The petition, which is still in circulation, has been signed by 30 Faculty members, 23 teaching fellows, and over 500 students according to Betty A. Diamond '69.

"In view of the direction of Faculty action, in view of the commitment to continuing progress, and with the hope that students return to classes, we urge you to attend the Friday meeting and vote to end the strike," the petition says.

Drawn up by two history graduate students and a few undergraduates, the petition includes the signatures of Seymour M. Lipset, Bruce Chalmers, Roger Brown, Karl Deutsch, William Alfred, Jeol Porte, Leonard K. Nash '39, and Otto Eckstein.

The Letter

The letter on academic freedom, unlike the petition, "...in no way reflects on the strike" according to one of its originators, Stanley Hoffmann.

"We affirm the right of teachers and students to be free to teach and learn in their classrooms. Accordingly, we unequivocally condemn any and all disruptions which interfere with this central principle of academic freedom of decency," it states.

The letter is signed by Barrington Moore Jr., Martin Peretz, John Womack '59, Ned Keenan '57, I. Bernard Cohen '37, Stanley Hoffmann, Michael Walzer, Tracy B. Strong, Marc J. Roberts '64, John Kenneth Galbraith, Harry T. Levin '33, H. Stuart Hughes and Judith Hughes.