Waiting for the report

Waiting for the compliance report of the Boston Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is like waiting for the Rome-to-Milan train in pre-Mussolini Italy--it never comes.

Ever since the OCR team first visited Harvard last March for an indepth review of the University's compliance with its affirmative action plan, a plethora of explanations has been offered by all sides for the report's delay.

And now, nearly nine months later, the report is still six weeks from issuance, and appears so tied down in internal debate one wonders if it will ever appear.

The assistant director of the Boston OCR said last week that the report, which is now on his desk, is unacceptable, because it does not reflect a verbal report he received from its authors earlier this year. With this disclosure, the future of the report is further thrust into doubt.

Walter J. Leonard, the University's affirmative action officer, said yesterday he is surprised at the delay.

But he said he thinks it may in part be explained by a Washington decision to place increased emphasis on secondary schools and therefore to reshuffle the local staff.

Nobody seems to understand the inner mechanics of the local OCR office and why the written report does not reflect the verbal one.

Meanwhile, the University is preparing an update to its 1973 affirmative action plan. The update, scheduled for this year in the earlier report "takes into consideration recent regulations and interpretations of regulations," Leonard said.