10--The Undergraduate Council presents administrators with a petition of 2379 student signatures urging Harvard to improve minority and women faculty recruitment, calling for new appoinments and affirmative action mechanisms.

15--The discovery of racial slurs painted on the walls of the laundry room in the basement of Matthews Hall provokes student outrage and condemnation by administrators. "KKK," "Die Niggers" and "Niggers suck" are among the messages painted over.

19--It is disclosed that a freshperson male was charged with indecent assault and battery in December for sexually molesting a woman in his dormitory while she slept. In November, another freshperson woman was molested in her room by an unidentified man who gained access to a dormitory by posing as a student.

February

1--Dean Jewett announces plans to proceed with 25 percent randomization of houses in the annual freshperson lottery, beginning this March. The plan emerges as a compromise among masters, and only eight of 12 agree to participate. Students express frustration at being ignored.

3--The first mega-conference of area student minority groups begins at Harvard, bringing together approximately 600 students of Black, Mexican, Asian, Puerto Rican and Native American descent from several Ivy League and New England colleges.

9--Yardlings present a petition of more than 1200 signatures opposing the new house lottery plan.

16--About 200 people rally before University Hall demanding action by the Verba Committee on recommendations to improve minority and women faculty hiring. The Undergraduate Council, Minority Students Alliance and Woman's Alliance co-sponsor the protest.

16--Complaints from departments and graduate students of inconvenience prevent a new security program from being implemented at the Science Center.

21--AWARE Week begins, marking the College's major effort at addressing racism on campus and improving race relations. After a promising start, the week of activities--often numbering several panel discussions a day--loses momentum. In the end, activities addressing "racism among the well-intentioned" are questioned about their success at reaching those at whom they are targeted.

24--Gay and lesbian students hold a "kiss-in" protest at Mather House dining hall after a gay man reports he was harassed the weekend before for making advances on a high school senior. The alleged harassment and the kiss-in polarize much of the house.

March

2--Dean Jewett, ending days of speculation, reverses the proposed freshperson housing lottery plan. Abandoned only nine days before it was scheduled to begin, the plan collapses after a majority of masters turn against the idea.

But the dean promises to forward a plan calling for at least 50 percent randomization of all houses in the fall.

5--After the first of what will become a series of assaults on undergraduates near the Yard, three local men aged 19 to 22 are arrested for beating at least two students in Harvard Square on a weekend night.