About 200 student leaders and University administrators attended a University Hall reception welcoming United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday afternoon.

Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68, Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III and University Marshal Richard M. Hunt were among those in attendance at the hummus-and-pita event sponsored by the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations.

Following a tour of the Barker Center led by DuBois Professor of the Humanities Henry Louis "Skip" Gates, Annan and his wife, Nane, entered the second-floor Faculty room at 3:40 p.m. and were met with a standing ovation.

Seven children from the Agassiz School in Cambridge sat in the front floor, bearing United Nations flags and polite smiles. One child, Olivia Counter, daughter of Foundation Director S. Allen Counter, presented Annan with a large bouquet of flowers.

Five students and two recent Harvard graduates delivered short speeches to the Secretary-General, recognizing his accomplishments as a world leader.

Nana E. Coleman '98, the student activities coordinator of the Foundation who, like Annan, hails from Ghana, told the UN leader she was "impressed and inspired" by his humanitarian efforts.

Noting Harvard students' frequent failure to "connect our theoretical knowledge to our obligation to care for those whose needs we have forgotten," former Undergraduate Council President Lamelle D. Rawlins '99 said Annan "has embodied the spirit of active involvement that we should all aspire to."

Rawlins cited Annan's role in spear-heading successful initiatives within the UN such as the international treaty on land mines and the establishment of the first permanent criminal court to try genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, examples that elicited applause from the audience.

Rawlins' successor, Beth A. Stewart '00, also applauded Annan's peacekeeping efforts.

"We are fortunate to have a good man--a great man--such as the Secretary-General liberating the good from the control of the evil and dissuading the good from doing evil in the name of good," Stewart said.

Annan began his remarks announcing he had two speeches prepared: a long and a short one.

"The short one is ethank you,'" Annan smiled. "The long one is ethank you very much.'"

Annan continued by telling his "young friends" that it is "reassuring and encouraging" to be recognized for his work, but emphasized that everyone has a stake in the United Nations' mission.

"You are the leaders of the twenty-first century," Annan said. "You must help us put the world on the right track."

One Agassiz school fifth-grader, clad in jacket and tie, said he enjoyed the reception with one exception.

"I'm excited to be here," he said. "Only thing is-these clothes make me hot.