Ladd also talked about the problems many intenational stuents faced last fall when trying to get their visas to enter the country. More than a dozen students had to enroll late or defer their enrollment for a year.

Paul C. Martin, dean of research and information technology for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, explained that he was unconcerned about an array of national-security regulations pertaining to so-called “select agents”—laboratory samples deemed potentially dangerous—because most research of this variety was not based within the Faculty.

General Counsel Representative Heather Quay discussed the requirements regarding the release of records for federal requests.

The University will produce records only when it is satisfied that a given request is legitimate, she said.

Several Faculty members who spoke during a question-and-answer session following the panelists’ presentations expressed their gratitude that University offiicals had arranged such the forum.

But Cabot Professor of Aesthetics and the General Theory of Value Elaine Scarry said the panelists’ explanations did not assuage her fears.

“Some of the reasons for not being concerned don’t strike me as reasons not to be concerned,” she said, remarking that the possibility for future restriction in the future concern her.

Several Faculty members urged the University administration to give out more information about the regulations affecting the Harvard.

Professor of History of Science Everett I. Mendelsohn said that he had performed an “experiment,” in which he asked a series of faculty members, staff members, and Harvard police officers alike how they would respond if the FBI asked for information about a specific student. Many did not seem to know how to respond, he said.

Dean of the Faculty William C. Kirby emphasized that discussion remained central to the interests of a University.

“One of the absolute best defenses of free speech is free speech,” he said.

—Staff writer Nathan J. Heller can be reached at heller@fas.harvard.edu.