ohn Monro, Dean April 24, 1967 Harvard College Several years ago Harvard University fired Dr. Timothy Leary when he refused to stop mixing teenage students and LSD. His subsequent promotional efforts helped create the "hippy" phenomenon. Harvard's tradition of tolerance was interrupted again when you warned, according to the April 14, Crimson, that students wasting their and the University's time by toying with LSD and "pot" would be subject to expulsion. The same edition of the Crimson carried accounts of the University's medical report that LSD is a "desperately dangerous form of drug roulette". A feature article in the same issue described the true hippy as rejecting "collegiate life in its usual form" in favor of "a world of highly personal, often drug assisted, perceptual experience." The reasons for your drawing a firm line at a point where tolerance became a kind of license are obvious. ********** The community, including many serious-minded hippies-in-residence, is deeply concerned that any sizable increase in hippy population will lead to unexpected incidents which might quickly lower the community's traditional level of tolerance -- just as Dr. Leary and certain member's of today's Freshman class have lowered the University's and yours. Like Harvard, both the Haight Ashbury and San Francisco enjoy reputations for tolerance. Unlike the University, neither have recourse to "expulsion". Many natives, in fact, contend that the new community has positive contributions to make. A larger number, however, are very troubled about the problems that seem to go with a "turn-on, tune-in, drop-out" life style, e.g., occasional street congestion, technically illegal use of drugs, changing land uses, etc. The local legislature on April 28 holds one of perhaps a series of committee meetings devoted to the summer time question. The fact that many civic groups believe that local levels of various services operating for native San Francisco youth are too low already does not seem to deter those who encourage the alleged influx. Cold summer fogs and potential arrest records are among the less desirable facets of summertime fellow-traveling. You have been a tolerant spokesman within a tolerant college community. At some point you and the college have had to draw the line with respect to the chemical basis of the new life styles. Do you -- before you leave for your magnificent new work in the Deep South --have any suggestion on how a neighborhood and a city can maintain excellent reputations for tolerance while attempting to adjust and perhaps service larger numbers of youth whose chief goal is "drug assisted, perceptual experience?" Sincerely, James Browne, Class of '50