PSLM member Amy C. Offner '01 called the letter from the masters "wonderful" in suggesting that administrators reopen what they have previously called a closed issue.

"That's precisely what we have been saying," Offner said. "We couldn't have asked for anything better."

But in a statement issued yesterday, University President Neil L. Rudenstine criticized the students occupying the building for tactics he called coercive and disruptive.

He said he has already met "numerous" times with students and will not meet with them again until "an environment of genuinely free discussion has been restored."

"The view that efforts at coercion and disruption, as opposed to discussion and persuasion, represent a proper means to achieve a desired result is mistaken, and inconsistent with the fundamental principles of a university," the letter reads.

Despite Rudenstine's refusal to negotiate, Gomes said he is committed to ending the sit-in and ensuring the well-being of the students inside.

On Sunday, Gomes led about 100 members of the Memorial Church congregation to Mass. Hall to pray with the protesters.