President Bok and President Horner recently joined 39 other college and university leaders in signing a letter to President Reagan raising concerns about the possibility of nuclear war.

The letter, which was initiated last spring and which was mailed this month, said the signers were not "innocent or unbalanced [in their] trust of the Soviet Union," but raised fears that current policies were pushing the country closer to nuclear war.

Horner said last night that the group felt it especially appropriate to comment on the issue because "we are guardians of tradition and are responsible for transforming the knowledge of the ages." In the event of a nuclear war, she explained, that function would be meaningless.

Amey A. DeFriez. Radcliffe board chairman, also signed the letter, along with Paul E Gray, president of MIT and David T. McGlaughlin, president of Dartmouth