Finestone estimates that roughly one-third of Hillel participants--including a number of Orthodox Jews--use the center as "an alternative to Harvard life."

But Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III said last week that in his view, Hillel does not harm the overall College community.

"I don't think it's a segregating force," said Epps. "Hillel puts on public programs to the community. It is therefore not a place whose purpose is to separate people from the larger community."

In 1982, a committee chaired by the Rev. Peter J. Gomes, Plummer professor of Christian morals, recommended against the creation of a Third World students center. The committee stated that such a center would fracture the campus and undermine the College's House system.

Subsequent proposals for a Black students center were also sunk by the Gomes report.

Epps said the Gomes report did not apply to Hillel since it is primarily a religious organization rather than an ethnic organization.

"Hillel is more similar to the Catholic students' center than a Third World center," said Epps. "Therefore, I do not have the same concerns about the activities of Hillel that I would otherwise."

Hillel is funded entirely by private donors and has no financial ties to Harvard.