TOLERANCE

To the Editors of the Crimson:

It greatly discourages me to observe how little tolerance various Harvard political groups show for each other. I was very eager, on Monday afternoon, to hear Vice President Gerald Ford speak, perhaps to personally address to him a few questions, and to form a personal impression of the man who, I hope, will replace Richard Nixon within the next few months. Although I chose the conservative route on this occasion, I was certainly pleased that the protestors demonstrated to Mr. Ford the still rampant discontent with the present Administration.

However, I was quite disturbed that some demonstrators complained about "punk-ass" Republicans, and that one taunted students leaving the Harvard club: "I can't stand seeing all these little Republicans running around."

1. This is a faulty generalization, since a hefty minority of those attending the vice president's speech were of more liberal leanings (members of the club even need not be members of the Republican Party) and most of those present were moved by motives other than support of Ford's policies. The challenging questions posed to Ford are convincing evidence of this.

2. Any student who attended the speech out of loyalty to the Nixon administration has just as much a right to do so as the demonstrators had to picket. Any of the demonstrators would justifiably invoke the Bill of Rights if anyone dared question the lawfulness of their action; therefore they should show tolerance to a fellow student expressing a different sentiment.

Members of the Harvard Republican Club are just as guilty of intolerance. With an infuriatingly superior attitude once on the return bus, they belittled the peaceful demonstrators, whose only crime, as far as I could see, was disagreeing with the almighty Republican Club. One student even boasted that he had torn down a sizable number of the NAM posters announcing the anti-Ford demonstration. Such unlawful censorship is both disgusting and appalling, especially when one considers that the basic evil of Watergate is the same: use of unlawful means to assure the predominance of one political viewpoint.

Is it shocking that our country is shattered by factionalism when Harvard students cannot even maintain minimal respect and tolerance for each other? Kathryn Donovan '77