The W.E.B. DuBois Institute for Afro-American Research, mandated by the Faculty almost four years ago, may finally be established.

President Bok last week appointed a seven-member committee to begin developing plans for the Institute, which was initially envisioned as an adjunct to the Afro-American Studies Department.

The structure and administration of the proposed Institute have been a chronic point of contention between the Administration and the Afro Department.

Ewart Guinier '33, chairman of the Department, refused in 1970 to convene a University-wide committee to plan the Institute because he said it violated the spirit of the originial 1969 Faculty resolution, which he said guaranteed the Institute's autonomy.

The Faculty in January accepted a special Afro-American Studies Review Committee's recommendation and explicitly mandated the Institute on a University-wide basis.

The new committee, chaired by Walter J. Leonard, assistant to the President, will once again take up the thorny problem, hoping to resolve it within four months so the search for funds can begin again.