HSMR Replies

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

Wednesday's CRIMSON contained an editorial criticizing the fund proposed by the Harvard Society for Minority Rights and the Radcliffe Association for the Advancement of Colored People. We feel that this criticism neglects several basic facts.

This fund is not a scholarship to be administered by the University, discriminating against all but Negro students. It is not the prototype of scholarships for "Murphy's and residents of Greater Los Angeles." Like the D.P. fund it is a practical attempt to give help where the need is the greatest.

It is a supplementary aid fund to be administered in cooperation with the National Scholarship Service and Fund for Negro Students. This national organization is approved by the University, and receives funds from the Combined Charities Drive.

We are faced with a situation where there are 16 Negro students in a school with an enrollment of 4700. The supplementary aid fund which we hope to inaugurate through the proceeds received from our concert on Friday is not a "makeshift solution." The National Scholarship Service has shown this. They report cases where Negroes have applied to colleges, been admitted, and received scholarships. These men had to be advised not to attend college. Even with university scholarships they simply did not have enough money.

In agreement with the CRIMSON we feel that to have a more equitable representation of Negroes at Harvard, it must be made clear that the College's admission and scholarship policies are non-discriminatory. But, publicity alone cannot bring a man to school when he does not have sufficient money to meet tuition and living expenses.

This points to a very definite need for a supplementary aid fund. Our drive is a necessary step in this direction. Walter Cranston,   President HSMR

Our editorial did not criticize the fund proposed by the Harvard Society for Minority Rights. It merely pointed out that a fund to help a few Negro students pay their tuition was not the answer to a larger problem.