Harvard Foundation Director S. Allen Counter apologized yesterday for any misunderstanding caused by a letter he wrote which has provoked objections from Hillel and at least one call for his resignation.

Counter said he wrote the letter, which appeared in Tuesday Crimson, to present concerns he had heard from students about the newspaper and about relations between Black and Jewish students.

"I am deeply sorry for any discomfort I may have caused any students in Hillel or otherwise in my efforts to raise important issues which are brought to our office regarding problems in race relations," he said in an interview yesterday.

"I apologize for any misunderstanding of any of the things that were stated in the letter," he said.

The six-page letter, co-signed by Harvard Foundation Student Committee Co-chair Natosha O. Reid '93, criticized a December series of Crimson articles on diversity at Harvard. The other co-chair, Muneer I. Ahmad '93, did not sign the letter.

The letter said that "Crimson writers active in Hillel have written extensively" on Black-Jewish relations and that The Crimson "frequently cites the Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel...as one of the student groups that is dissatisfied with the Foundation's work."

Hillel Coordinating Council Chair Shai A. Held '93 said in an interview yesterday that the letter was "filled with misrepresentations, distortions and outright lies."

Held said the latter "makes insinuations and accusations which certainly smack of standard anti-Semitic

fare" and "insinuates conspiracy between Hilleland The Crimson, which is simply false and rathersick."

Counter, who is also associate professor ofneurology, said he did not the mean to imply thatThe Crimson was aligned with Hillel.

"I'm sorry if that association was understoodor presented," he said.

Reid could not be reached for commentyesterday.

Counter discussed the letter with Held andHillel acting director Rabbi sally Finestone in aclosed-door meeting yesterday afternoon thatlasted more than two hours.

Representatives of Dean of the college L. FredJewett '57 and President Neil L. Rudenstine alsoattended the meeting.

Both counter and Held said the meeting wentwell but declined to disclose details.

"A lot of progress was made in trying tounderstand some of the differences we face,"counter said.