We're Forum

Political discussion here seems to center around to extremes: raucous bull-sessions at one end, and academic lectures at the other. Generally unheard are the sounds of students arguing with students in large, organized meetings. Yale has its Political Union, and Princeton its Senate, but Harvard has only the memory of an ill-fated Athenaeum.

The presidents of ten undergraduate political groups faced this problem at a meeting last week, and they are now planning to meet periodically on an informal basis. One of the obvious jobs for this committee will be to make sure that no two clubs plan large meetings for the same night--a practice they might have started long ago. But this group of club leaders can make its most important contribution in another way--by sponsoring large-scale debating forums, open to public view and conducted by students.

Although no definite outline as yet exists for this kind of parliamentary discussion, there are a few principles which should guide a successful forum at Harvard. First, there is no need for a new, chartered organization. The Athenaeum of several years ago disappeared largely because it attempted to bypass the existing political groups. These groups should form the basis for any larger political forum, because they already encompass most people interested in this kind of debate. In addition, topics for such a meeting should cut across party lines, so that the Young Republicans and Young Democrats are not always on opposite sides of drawn pistols.

Each club, moreover, should send to the forum a delegation prepared to record the club's majority viewpoint on the topic. If a club must declare itself pro or con in the public meeting, there must be much prior discussion among its own members in order to decide on a stand. On the other hand, if groups sent individuals speaking only for themselves, the forum would soon degenerate into a series of personal testaments. This would hardly give students a chance to experience real parliamentary debates.

Should a political forum reappear, it will provide an excellent sounding board for College politicos, and entertainment for everyone else.