Color Line Forces University To Decline Track Invitation

The varaity track team will decline the invitation from the Southern Relays Committee to attend its sixth annual meet April 3 and 4 in Birmingham, Alabama because of a meet and city rule which prohibits negroes and whites from competing together.

University sources indicated that Harvard would not be represented at the relays if meet rules forced the team to leave one of its members home because of color restrictions.

Efforts of the Harvard Club of Birmingham to persuade the City Commission and Relay Committee to waive their ruling were unsuccessful.

The University, forced to choose between breaking up the regular relay team by leaving relay star Alan T. Howe '55 at home, or declining the invitation, therefore decided to decline.

Other Teams Made Trip

Lack of money to pay for the tip to Birmingham was given by one University official as reason for cancelling the trip. Special funds, however, were readily available to finance the same trip for the past two years.

The H.A.A. does not have money allocated to send teams on such outside expeditions, and so far this year, no outside source has come forward with an offer to foot the bill.

Faced with a similar color problem several years ago, the Universities of Michigan and Purdue sent their teams, without the Negro runners.

Early last fall, letters were exchanged between interested alumni in Birmingham and Cambridge advising Harvard athletic officials they would face color problems if they sent the team to the spring relays. It was known then that Howe would run regularly with the relay team.

Decision Made in December

The final decision not to attend the meet was made last December, and the relay was not put on the Harvard schedule.

Sources in Birmingham indicated that the Harvard Club had made every effort to get the relay committee to waive their color ruling, but that such a request had been passed over by the Committee. The CRIMSON was unable to contact any of its numbers.

Sympathy in Birmingham seemed to be in favor of letting Howe run in the meet. No other Negro has run in the meet before.

Erroneous reports had circulated that the University had not been invited to the spring vacation meet. These were termed incorrect by athletic officials, who said that they had received three weeks ago formal notification of when the meet would be held, and an entry blank.

They supposed that the report may have referred to an offer of funds to pay for the trip, which had not been made.