To the editors:

Undergraduate Council President Sujean S. Lee’s comments regarding “political or controversial” issues have been seriously misconstrued (Editorial, “A Step in the Wrong Direction,” Feb. 7). As I understood the message of the comments in question, she envisions the council sponsoring campus forums in which students could discuss and debate important issues that are relevant to Harvard (i.e. ROTC, grade inflation, etc.). This is similar to the “Days of Dialogue” of the Driskell administration.

This would be extraordinarily beneficial to the Harvard community. For instance, I recently participated in an ROTC panel at the Institute of Politics that helped everyone involved to clarify the issue and to better understand each other’s positions. There is no reason that the council should not sponsor such forums.

Lee should not be criticized for wanting to bring all students—not just council members—together to discuss important and controversial issues. This editorial page, which previously printed the condescending headline “Re-elect Gusmorino,” has not given Lee half-a-chance.

John F. Bash ’03

Feb. 8, 2002

The writer is a member of the Undergraduate Council and was a vice-presidential candidate in 2000.