Lone Chicano Course Dropped, Revived as Independent Work

Afro-American Studies 105, "The History of the Spanish-Speaking Peoples of the United States" was dropped from the department's course offering last week.

But it has reappeared, with a new teacher, under the rubric of "independent Work." About 45 students met yesterday with William Zayas, a teaching fellow at the Education School.

Given last year for the first time, Afro-American 105 was the only course listed in the catalogue that was explicitly concerned with Chicano and Puerto Rican history.

The course was scratched because Rogilio Reyes, a doctoral candidate in Linguistics who taught it last year and was scheduled to do so again, failed to complete his thesis over the summer. His appointment was denied by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Disagreement

Dean Dunlop described the move as standard procedure in cases where degree requirements are not complete. However, Chuck Aclula, a second-year law student who is head of the Harvard chapter of Movimiento Estudentil Chicano de Aztlan (MECHA), an organization of Chicano students--called the Faculty's decision "selective application" of academic regulations to minority groups. Dunlop called this impression quite wrong."

Members of Harvard MECHA and PRSU--the Puerto Rican Students Union--met last Friday in a last-minute attempt to salvage the course in some form for this semester. According to MECHA member Zayas, Afro-Am 105 is "vital for our organization and informational needs."

John Womack '59, professor of History, volunteered at the meeting to sign the study card of any student wanting to take the course as independent work. Reyes declined to teach these students, but Zayas agreed to take over the job without pay. The group will meet once a week for two hours on a seminar basis.

Spring

MECHA and PRSU representatives met with Dunlop on Monday to discuss reinstituting Afro-Am 105 as a regular course, Dunlop agreed that if Reyes completes his thesis this Fall can teach the second semester of the course.

MECHA was active last year in attempts to boost admissions of Chicano students, and in negotiating with WHRB for two hours of broadcasting per week aimed at the Spanish-speaking community. MECHA leader Benjamin Moya, an instructor at the Law School last year, resigned in protest in June after being denied permission to teach a symposium on "Chicanos and the Law.