'Good Ploy'

Collins called the letter "a good public relations ploy" and said he feels he is "being put in a position where I can no longer work in good faith--because we're no longer getting what we were promised."

Marshall, a second-year Law student, assailed the portion on minority faculty hiring. "It's nice to see Bok's commitment to affirmative action put down on paper, but we're interested even more in seeing the number of Black faculty increase--we're result-oriented," she said.

Jackson agreed, saying, "Bok notes the declining number of Black Ph.D.'s but offers no alternative programs, and doesn't account for the fact that qualified Black scholars have little incentive to come here."

Further Jackson added, "Harvard has yet to experience the fall-out of the currently declining Ph.D. pool. Since 1972, the number of available Black Ph.D.s has doubled--so the University should be at the height of its ability to bring Black scholars here."

Compiled

By contrast, administrative reaction late last week was favorable to the letter.

Dean Rosovsky agreed with Bok's assessment of the difficulties in hiring more minority faculty. Archie C. Epps III, dean of students, termed the letter "a very fine, thorough and courageous statement" and Nancy P. Randolph, special assistant to Bok for affirmative action, called the statement "important and relevant."

Bok was unavailable for comment this weekend.

The BLSA will release a statement discussing the specifics of Bok's letter later this week, and the student Third World Center organization will formulate a position paper on the Foundation in the near future