Signers of 'We Won't Go' Petition Organize Draft Resistance League

A number of signers of the "We Won't Go" statement formally organized themselves into a draft resistance group last night.

As its first action, the organization, called the Boston Draft Resistance Group, will set out to mobilize the Harvard campus on the basis of the statement.

The "We Won't Go" statement, which first appeared in the April 17 issue of the CRIMSON, declares its signers' intention to refuse military service while the United States is fighting in Vietnam.

The original statement was signed by 86 draft-age men, largely Harvard undergraduates and graduate students. Since then, the number of signers has grown to 155, Roger A. Lewin '67, a spokesman for the group said last night.

Canvassing

Mobilizing the campus, Lewin said, will consist of door-to-door canvassing by signers of the statement. The canvassers will urge interested persons to come to a meeting next week to discuss issues of draft resistance.

Concerned about legal questions surrounding the statement, the group's leaders would only say that they "welcome signatures."

The group's other plans, Lewin said, include issuing a paper opposing all conscription, and setting up a "Friends of the Signers" organization for sympathetic persons not eligible for the draft. Lewin mentioned Faculty members and women as possible members of the Friends group.

Cooperation

Lewin said the group's leaders have contacted signers of similar statements at Boston University and Brandeis. The new Boston Draft Resistance Groups hopes to coordinate its activity with these and other groups in the Boston area, he added.

Students from M.I.T., Brandeis and Tufts have also signed the "We Won't Go" statement, Lewin said. But he pointed out that not all of the signers are members of the draft resistance group.