Charity Basket' Ethic Dumped for Activism In PBH's Re-Evaluation

Thirty years ago, tall and charitable Phillips Brooks House volunteers carried Thanksgiving bastkets to the poor under a combined philosophy of doing good and noblesse oblige. Today, many PBH volunteers still labor under a deluding self-righteousness. They often forget they are not effectively changing social conditions. But the PBH man is beginning to think.

The new trend in PBH is one of self-evaluation which could lead to radical changes in its philosophy and in its relationship to the more radical campus organizations. Should PBH volunteers continue reading with a Roxbury student if the entire ghetto school system demands basic structural change? And if institutional change is the goal, can PBH offer any more than a subtle introduction to the frustrations of the system before these volunteers leave or turn to organizations such as Afro and SDS?

Administrators of the PBH programs are moving from charity to more socially and politically active positions. Two weeks ago, the PBH program working at the Cambridge Community Center delivered an ultimatum to the Center's Administrative Board. Robert A. Goodin '68, co-chairman of the cultural enrichment program, threatened to pull out of the Center unless its administration was taken over by the residents of the neighborhood in which it operates. He said there was no justification for a non-indigenous group to be there unless it was directly responsive to the needs and wants of the neighborhood. Residents had complained there was a need for radical change in the Center. He supported their action by his threat of withdrawal.

Power Tactic

This is a power tactic which might be used more and more, according to Benjamin A. Barnes '68, president of PBH. He said, "The number of hours in the field are good-will in the bank, and legitimate a student's activist role in a community ushing for change."

Mark R. Dyen '70, a co-chairman of SDS, supported Goodin's action, but doubted if most PBH projects had equal power to force change. He said, "PBH does not have a power base outside of the established institutions and no organization can accomplish serious change working within the system." Jeffrey P. Howard '69, president of Afro, took the same position as Dyen.

This illustrates the basic philosophical difference between PBH and Afro and SDS. Even with the changing image of PBH, a prophecy for joint action with Afro or SDS seems tenuous. PBH is concerned with particular institutions that have faltered in the present society, a society in which faith is retained; Afro and SDS are interested in changing the overall structure of America. PBH generally has immediate pragmatic change as its end; Afro and SDS use change in the present as a means toward a future end almost Chekhovian in its expanse.

Certain PBH committees, however, faced with an inability to act effectively under the limitations of the institution in which they work, are seeking to act outside of that institution. Neilther the Lyman Reform School Committee nor the Prisons Committee have the power to push for basic structural changes. Their programs can continue only so long as they remain within the regulations set by the administration of the reform school or prison. But both of these programs are working outside of their institutions to establish "halfway houses," where students released from reform school and prisoners on parole can live for about six months.

Volunteers

Wesley E. Profit '69, co-chairman of the Lyman program, is also hoping to organize volunteers to work in communities in Boston. They are trying to get the parents of the reform school boys as well as lawyers and other professionals to form action groups which could more effectively push for change in the basic structure of the reform school, perhaps through political channels.

The trend towards political action is still very small in PBH. The executive board did suggest to the committee chairmen at the time of the Vietnam Referendum that they consider allowing volunteers to canvass for votes instead of fulfilling their PBH responsibilities. They also had PBH cars available to students going down to the peace march in Washington.

Can PBH be effective if it does not become politically active? The PBH volunteer through personal communication certainly does achieve positive results for the individual. Mark Petri '69, a member of the PBH executive board, said "The political ideal should take precedence over the social-philanthropic ideal -- while we are helping the individual kid, we're not changing the society in which he lives." He added, "I think PBH has a potential power base within the system which could be used effectively in political terms."

Dyen said, "PBH is finding out that it is impossible to make a big dent in social problems without working politically in some way." And Howard said, "Even the traditionally blandest political group must start swaying to the left." The political and power orientation of SDS and Afro may stifle smaller but positive aims.

But is there time for a "hundred visions and revisions"? Is there time for one to concentrate only on alleviating individual suffering, when American crises as great as the War or the racial situation exist? Perhaps the time has come when the liberal must recognize his inability to overcome the system's basic inertia and to effect real change without becoming a radical? For Afro and SDS, that time has come.

Many PBH projects are moving away from the self-perpetuating service ideal toward a goal of eventually phasing out the non-indigenous volunteer. The Cambridge Friends School program is trying to mobilize interested local individuals and institutions to replace the PBH community service project in North Cambridge. At present, ten neighborhood mothers have been recruited to work with PBH volunteers in an after-school program.

Goodin said he would gauge the final success of his program at the Cambridge Community Center by the community's final rejection of outside help. He said that the program's action should not extend beyond teaching residents the practical details of running a volunteer program. The program's eventual goal is one of self-annihilation. The Roxbury Education Program and the Roosevelt Towers Project have the same goal.

Catalyst

The phasing out of these programs involves acting as a catalyst in community organization. The aim is the development of more community pride and power. In largely black communities, this amounts to the black power ethic. Many of the PBH leaders see the need for black volunteers to work with black children in order to establish a positive racial identity. But there are very few black volunteers in PBH.

"Most black students either have no energy to expand beyond adjusting to the Harvard dsituation or are already so angry that PBH will not attract them," said Barnes. Another PBH executive, Petri, expanded on this to say that "while the middle class Harvard student is used to minor change and will accept it whether he wants more or not, a student coming from an environment where things are blatantly wrong will demand changes in the entire system." These students are turning to SDS and Afro.

Tutoring

Afro has started a tutoring program at the Cambridge Community Center. Howard said, "I wouldn't condemn the PBH programs in black communities to the point of saying get the hell out of there, but they should be black." He said, however, the white program directors have no place in the black community because "they don't have any understanding of the problems of blacks and can act as the condescending great white father."

Profit, a PBH chairman and a member of Afro, said a "false wall" had been erected between the two organizations. He went on to say, "Afro is convinced that all Negro problems differ from those faced by every other ghetto group, while PBH acts as if all problems were purely economic and environmental and do not differ when a racial dimension is added."

With the growth of black consciousness, however, it may become more and more difficult for the white volunteer to function effectively in the black community. "All hell will break loose when black consciousness filters down to the kids--but by the time it's that great there will be enough black volunteers," said Howard.

By that time, PBH volunteers may be out of Harvard and in the real world. As one PBH executive explained, "We do not want to turn out businessmen who write checks for charity."

An "Association Committee," which includes ten professionals from the Boston area, was set up this year to analyze PBH programs and to recommend changes for their improvement.

For the first time, PBH also instituted a series of "Cabinet Seminars" to discuss topics which integrate the volunteer's work into wider considerations of change. One of these, "The Role of the Volunteer in Institutional Change" reviewed case studies of five PBH programs. Barbara Sard '68, chairman of the seminar, said "There were no real solutions, but we were able to clarify the kinds of barriers students face in attempting to produce significant change."

Executives

Certain PBH executives are also working with other students and faculty members to persuade the University to offer more courses for credit that pertain to contemporary issues.

PBH is struggling to attain a new social and political relevance. Realizing that the era of the white missionary is dead, it is looking to justify its work in a new and more real way. Its activism within the system may be successful; if not, PBH may in the end be forced into radicalism like that of Afro or SDS