A defense of last year's controversial Million Man March against conservative criticisms is one of a number of articles in the newly-published 1996 Handbook on Race Relations and the Common Pursuit.

The book, which is being distributed to all undergraduate houses, was produced by the Office of the Dean of Students.

Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III said he hoped people would read the essays to learn about the complexity of race relations, the interests of faculty, staff and administrators and the resources that Harvard offers.

Unlike the previous two handbooks that focused almost exclusively on Harvard, this year's report touches on broader issues of race relations.

"One of the goals of race work at Harvard is to show people how to think about the issue," Epps said, adding that the article on the Million Man March by Thomson Professor of Government Martin L. Kilson Jr. addresses a very intriguing event.

Kilson's piece defends the march against criticism and calls for a revitalized National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"The multi-layered elements among middle-class and blue-collar blacks that were the overwhelming presence at the Million Man March are not likely to become tools or puppets of black extremists; they are not politically daft," Kilson wrote.

This year's report also contains an article about ethnic studies by Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles and Thomson Professor of Government Jorge I. Dominguez.

That essay, adapted from a letter sent to the Academic Affairs Committee of the Harvard Foundation, explains why Harvard should not have an ethnic studies program.

"The creation of narrowly defined administrative or curricular entities in the FAS would be misguided," Knowles and Dominguez wrote. "Our faculty do not favor limiting the study of ethnicity to a handful of groups whose own self-definition has been changing over time and will no doubt continue to do so."

Epps's own piece, titled "The Uses of Diversity," is reprinted from the 1993 booklet, and is a restatement of the "principles that guide" Harvard's work in race relations.

"I thought mine might again serve to remind us about these issues on campus," the dean said.

While most students contacted yesterday had not yet read the report, reaction from those who had was mixed.

"I don't think it was particularly helpful," said Alex-Handrah Aime '98, chair of the Haitian Alliance.

"I think Harvard doesn't really spend that much time analyzing race relations," Aime said. "Publishing a handbook doesn't mean much."

Aime said she believes hiring more faculty from underrepresented groups would be more helpful.

Bashir A. Salahuddin '98, the chair of Harvard's Black Men's Forum, said he found the report very useful and especially liked the articles by Epps and Kilson because of their focus on perceptions of race.

"Developing cultural awareness at Harvard is extremely important for all of us," Salahuddin said.

"I think it broadens the knowledge base from which we construe our understanding of the good life," he said.

The race relations booklets are currently available in all campus dining halls