The debate that followed Rosovsky's statement lasted only 11 minutes.

President Bok then asked for a show of hands, and at 5:29 p.m., at the Science Center B meeting, Charles P. Whitlock, associate dean of the Faculty, announced the final tally.

Rosovsky, speaking at a press conference after the meeting, called the Faculty vote "an IOU from the Faculty to students," which will be paid off when the Core is fully implemented.

"Our Faculty has found common ground--not unanimity, but a great deal of common ground" on which to build a new curriculum, Rosovsky added. "That gives me a great deal of satisfaction."

Rosovsky said he was "mildly optimistic" before the vote, and was "very pleasantly surprised" by the final 3-1 margin of victory.

"I never underestimated the magnitude of the task of getting the Harvard Faculty to agree to something educational," he added.

Bok said he reacted to the vote with "enormous relief and delight."

When asked if he would like to have been able to attend Harvard after implementation of the Core, Rosovsky--a graduate of William and Mary College--smiled and said that he never graduated from Harvard in the first place.

Bok said the Core "represents a vast improvement over what I was exposed to in college--but then, I didn't go to Harvard, either.