CORRECTION APPENDED

Undergraduate Council (UC) President Ryan A. Petersen ’08 accused the University of hindering a range of reforms to the academic calendar, the curriculum, and student life. At a UC meeting last night, he warned that if the administration did not address the council’s complaints, outlined in a lengthy “Declaration of Grievances,” a sit-in was a “viable option.”

According to Harvard spokesman John D. Longbrake, interim President Derek C. Bok will meet with Petersen on Thursday to discuss calendar reform. Petersen conceded that Bok’s agreement to meet was “significant,” but added that “the decision lies with the Corporation as a whole.” [SEE CORRECTION BELOW]

The president is part of the seven-member Harvard Corporation, which is the University’s top governing body. Bok will leave his post in two months.

The UC’s declaration alleges, among other things, that the administration “has restrained—without explanation” moves to create a mental health Web site and online system intended to save students money on textbooks.

Missing from the list is the central complaint of a message Petersen sent over the UC listserv Saturday morning.

In the e-mail, Petersen said that Theda Skocpol, outgoing dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, had proposed an amendment that would prevent students from being voting members of committees that will implement the new general education curriculum. But Skocpol called Petersen’s interpretation a misunderstanding, and later amended the wording of her proposal to make it clear that students would, indeed, have a vote.

Despite Bok’s agreement to meet and Skocpol’s clarification, emotions ran high at last night’s UC meeting.

Thomas D. Hadfield ’08 said “extreme times call for extreme action, and I’m ready to be radical.” And Brian S. Gillis ’08 suggested that the UC “line up students outside the faculty meeting so that each faculty member must step over 20 students to get into the meeting.”

Professors will meet in University Hall tomorrow afternoon to consider legislation to replace the Core with a new general education curriculum.


Calling Skocpol’s proposal “sickening,” Petersen wrote to the UC that “students will no longer be voting representatives on the [General Education] Committee or any subcommittees.”

Skocpol said that Petersen had misunderstood her amendment.

“I don’t know where Ryan got the idea that someone wants to take away undergraduate representation, because that is just not the truth,” she said in a telephone interview.

According to Skocpol, when Petersen called the wording to her attention Saturday evening, she changed the language to make it clear that students would have a vote and re-submitted the proposal to the Secretary of Faculty.

“I was astounded to get [his e-mail] and I responded that it was a misunderstanding, and he never responded to me again,” she said.

Skocpol also took issue with Petersen’s concern that the clause “Faculty serving on any subcommittee overseeing subject areas shall be from a variety of departments and divisions” excluded student members from subcommittees. She explained in an e-mail that the clause was simply intended “to prevent a department from capturing an area of Gen Ed.”

In an e-mail Sunday evening entitled “Great News on Gen Ed!” Petersen claimed that Skocpol had “withdrawn” her amendment. Skocpol said she had expressed disappointment to Petersen for his “overreaction,” adding that she did not withdraw, but rather amended her proposal.

According to Skocpol, some members of an informal group of department chairs rewrote the document in question yesterday afternoon, making the question of wording moot.

After the meeting, Petersen said, “The issues with the Skocpol amendment have been resolved, but the issues with the Administration remain distressing and in need of resolution.”

—Staff writer Rachel Nolan can be reached at rnolan@fas.harvard.edu.


CORRECTION: The April 30 news article "Petersen Critiques Univ. in Meeting" misquoted a general education amendment submitted by Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dean Theda Skocpol. Skocpol's amendment did not use the term "student advisers" in lieu of "students." In fact, the amendment used the term "student advisors" instead of "student representatives" in one instance, and in another instance, a reference to "student representatives" in previous legislation is absent from Skocpol's most recent proposal.

In addition, the story incorrectly quoted University spokesman John D. Longbrake. The article stated that, according to Longbrake, the Undergraduate Council (UC) would meet with Interim President Derek C. Bok this Thursday. In fact, Longbrake only confirmed that a meeting between the UC and Bok or Provost Steven E. Hyman would take place, and never offered a date for that meeting.