After Ford decided to reduce the FAS subsidy to PBHA by annual increments of $5,000, phasing it out entirely by 1973, PBHA requested line-item status on the FAS budget and a permanent subsidy from the Faculty.

Dean of the Faculty John T. Dunlop, who succeeded Ford, then decided to create a subcommittee of the Committee on Students and Community Relations (CSCR) to study the issue.

But the committee recommended in December 1970 that the Faculty deny the organization the permanent subsidy it had requested and instead give only a temporary subsidy of $10,000 for 1971-1972--the amount Dunlop had promised PBHA in the first place.

Eventually a compromise was reached. The faculty granted PBHA $14,000 for the 1971-72 school year.

Battles Continue

The problem of programs' overextending their financial bases continued throughout the 1970s, until Johnson, who began his tenure in 1979, engineered a gradual turnaround of the organization.

In the last 15 years, PBHA has slowly rebuilt its programs and expanded. But despite the relative stability the group has attained, PBHA continues to be plagued by conflict with the administration.

In a letter dated May 21 of this year, Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III threatened to remove all financial support from the organization if members continue with their plans to choose a new executive director and create a board with voting non-student members.

If such a resolution comes to pass, PBHA could be left where it was 25 years ago: underfunded and desperately trying to meet its commitments to the constituency that need it most--the people of Cambridge and Boston.