September

23--Even as activist alumni continue their campaign to gain pro-divestment seats on the Board of Overseers, a Board committee, chaired by Boston Federal District Court Judge William G. Young '62, releases a report asking the University to take a more active role in its elections.

28--A faculty committee on women and minority faculty hiring, chaired by Pforzheimer University Professor Sidney Verba '53, has its first regular meeting, months after undergraduates from the Minority Students Alliance had charged Harvard with "complacency" in its affirmative action efforts.

29--A group of activist alumni immediately attacks the Young Report, claiming that its recommendations were formulated to undermine dissent at the University. Members of Harvard-Radcliffe Alumni Against Apartheid (HRAAA) say the proposed changes are designed to impede pro-divestment candidates' election to the Board.

30--The Harvard OnLine Library Information System (HOLLIS) which cost the University $3 million, opens officially, although many faculty say the library system is not yet up to date.

October

5--President Derek C. Bok speaks out in support of the Young Report, saying there should be a mechanism to allow alumni to express their views to the University without having to run for election to the Board of Overseers.

12--A joint committee of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers meets with activist students to discuss University investment policies. The students present a petition demanding divestment from companies that do business in South Africa, but leave the meeting dissatisfied.

25--The Association of Black Faculty and Administrators presents a report to the University asking for improvements in minority hiring. The report, written by Professor of Law Derrick A. Bell, calls for 10 percent minority representation within Harvard's faculty and staff by 1990. While Harvard officials say they agree with the tone of the Bell Report, they say they have their own plans for affirmative action and, for the first time, announce numerical goals for minority and women hiring.

November

1--The Crimson reports that Harvard may net between $6 million and $12 million from its investment in a limited partnership fund attempting a $20.3 billion leveraged buyout of RJR-Nabisco. If the takeover were successful, Harvard money managers say the University would hold indirect investments in the cigarette company--the same company from which a Harvard committee on ethics in investment advised the University to divest in the spring of 1988.

2--Dean of the Faculty A. Michael Spence announces the creation of a special fund to promote development of ethnic studies courses by bringing visiting professors in the field to Harvard.

7--It is announced that the English Department has denied tenure to Associate Professor of English Joseph A. Boone. The decision comes at a time when the department is seeking to fill roughly six appointments.

11--The U.S. Department of Education announces that it is investigating whether Harvard admissions policies discriminate against Asian-Americans. The review seeks to determine if the University violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits federally funded institutions from discriminating on the basis of race, ethnicity or religious creed.

December