The Harvard Class of '53 began drifting into the old alma mater yesterday morning looking for familiar faces and mulling over forgotten names. The classmates and their wives, $325 poorer, arrived to register at the Freshman Union where children were bundled off into age groups--the blue, orange, red or green divisions, which program special children's activities.

For some, this is the first time back to the ivory tower, but like their classmates who have returned from time to time, they say Harvard has not changed too much in 25 years.

"It doesn't seem that different--there are a few new buildings but it doesn't seem so disorienting," Ralph Krause '53 said yesterday. Only student dress, a few new buildings like Canaday and Leverett Towers, and coed living struck most alumni as changes.

Opposing View

Robert Twitchell '53 said when he arrived yesterday morning, he received a copy of the University's investment policy in South Africa from members of the SASC--a change from the copy of Taylor's "Fireside Chats" he received upon entering the College in '49.

While approximately 500 alumni meandered around campus, they also encountered members of the United Front who were busy canvassing the Houses and the Yard, distributing information on the University's investment in companies operating in South Africa.

"The alumni are the ones who control the purse strings and the University responds to what they think," Alan Frolich '78, a member of the United Front, said yesterday.

John Mayan '53 noted that the saddest change in 25 years is the fact that it is no longer safe to walk around Cambridge. Barely two hours after his statement, a mass of police cars arrived at Plympton St. across from Quincy House after receiving a call that two people were fighting in the street. Police said yesterday a woman injured her male friend with a knife. Quincy House residents also identified the man as the suspicious person they had reported to the police earlier in the day.

The police said they made no arrest despite the identification of the intruder, because the trespassing was a "past misdemeanor," adding the police must be present while a misdemeanor occurs for an arrest to take place.

Yellow school buses whisked alumni to Kresge Hall at the Business School in the later afternoon to eat dinner and meet with President Bok before attending coffee hours later in the evening. Finally, talked out, they strolled back to their temporary living quarters at the Yard and River Houses.

Throughout this week, alumni will visit the Boston Pops, tour Quincy market, enjoy a New England lobster dinner at a suburban country club, and dance and drink to jazz combos.