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The stakes have risen in the contentious dialogue between student public service volunteers and the College (see "Public Service Passions," January-February, page 27) over the governance of Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA). In a late May report on the status of PBHA, dean of students Archie Epps noted that the group could lose its standing as an official student organization-and thereby Phillips Brooks House (PBH) itself, its staff, funding, and insurance-unless PBHA complied with College regulations regarding the governance of student organizations.

The current dispute centers on a College regulation that Dean Epps calls the autonomy rule, which limits non-students to advisory roles within student organizations. This spring, PBHA created a new board of trustees, electing eight students, eight non-students (all either members of the Harvard community or alumni), and two permanent ex-officio Harvard administrators. Assistant dean for public service Judith Kidd has been invited to serve as one of the ex-officio trustees; as the University-appointed director of PBH, she has charge of the building, the salaried staff, and University-supported services.

Reacting to Dean Epps's admonitions, PBHA pointed out two exceptions to the autonomy rule: Harvard Student Agencies and the Harvard Crimson. A compromise on the governance of PBHA seems imminent.

However, College officials also want PBHA to appoint Kidd its executive director, in which capacity she could directly oversee its 80 public service programs. In the past, the director of PBH and PBHA have been the same person. But PBHA president Andrew J. Ehrlich '96-'97 says the board will not appoint Kidd executive director. At press time, PBHA and the College were still at an impasse over that issue, and the possibility remained that PBHA, with 1,700 student members, could be turned out of Phillips Brooks House.

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