But this year, Mandery says that since the Corporation extended an unsolicited invitation to the council, the student representatives should try to represent their classmates' interests on many fronts.

He says he hopes the student representatives will engage the Corporation members on tenure policy, the possibility of a student center, and divestment, in addition to the topic of an open meeting.

"Any form of communication is better than stonewalling and not talking at all," says Richard Eisert '88. But he adds, "Things at Harvard, especially on this level, happen very slowly."

Jay Hodos '89, who was among the petition drive's leaders last year as a member of the Southern Africa Solidarity Committee (SASC), says of the invitation, "It's a big victory, but it's still not what we wanted, and it's still not enough."

Ladin, another SASC member who led the open meeting drive, says "The Corporation would like to have a nice chat over lunch and not talk about real issues."

She says she would support the upcoming meeting if members of student organizations in addition to the council and house committees were in attendance. "The Undergraduate Council is increasingly defining its role as a social organization," Ladin says. "There are other groups out there who have other interests."

Delegates who represent the entire student body should attend the closed meeting, says Ladin. She wants the council to meet with all interested undergraduate organizations and agree on a method for choosing student representatives to attend the meeting.

A Corporation meeting where only council and house committee members were represented would be symbolic and unproductive, Ladin says. "If they're going to give in to the Corporation to that extent...it's such a token meeting that it's not worth going."