Harvard Stops Purchase Of Grapes for 12 Weeks

Harvard University will not purchase any California grapes from the Guimarra Grape Company for the next twelve weeks, Vice-President L. Gard Wiggins said yesterday.

Wiggins stated, "Grapes are not on the menu and will not be on the menu in the foreseeable future." It is unusual for Wiggins to involve himself in food planning; this is generally the province of C. Graham Hurlburt, director of the Food Services Department.

Morning Meeting

The statement followed a morning meeting with Marcos Munos, Massachusetts coordinator of the grape strike, and Frank J. Weissbecker, Hurlburt's assistant.

Wiggins emphasized that his announcement does not constitute an official Harvard position in the grape strike dispute. The plans for the next two menu cycles (which encompass the twelve week period), he said, just do not include grapes.

No Comment

When asked directly whether the action was in response to grape strike pressures, Wiggins refused to comment.

Steven J. Kelman '70, president of the Young People's Socialist League, which has been pushing the strike in the Harvard area, called off planned pickets in front of Holyoke Center on October 1.

YPSL termed the no-grape announcement "a victory for the tactics of peaceful protest and respect for democratic civil liberties."

In the midst of the grape strike controversy, Dunster House served the last of their grapes at lunch yesterday and Dunsterites consumed more than 17 pounds of grapes.

Dunster food manager John Petris said that no grapes would be served after Monday, adding that one order which had been made this week had been cancelled.