Group of Seniors Will Protest Harvard's South Africa Stand

Members of the senior class at odds with the administration over the University's position on investments in South Africa will stage a non-disruptive protest at tomorrow's Commencement exercises, United Front organizers confirmed yesterday.

The protesters, wearing black armbands passed out in the Houses on Thursday morning, will enter the procession carrying anti-apartheid banners and posters--a number of them in the summa cum laude section at the front of the line.

An ad hoc group of about 25 seniors met on Monday night in the Quincy House Junior Common Room to discuss protest plans, including ideas on how to stage a moment of silence to express solidarity with the blacks of Southern Africa.

The organizers refused to divulge how or at what point during the ceremony the moment of silence would take place, but stressed that they have plans for drawing the attention of the Commencement audience.

"I just hope it's possible to have a Commencement without disruption," Archie C. Epps III, dean of students, said yesterday, adding that it is his understanding that "the protests being planned are of such a nature."

Neva Makgetla '78, an active member in this year's Southern African Solidarity Committee (SASC), said yesterday that a recent canvas of seniors showed little support for disruption of Commencement activities, but widespread backing of a protest of some kind.

"We couldn't see listening to all those beautiful, ethical things they say at Commencement, then graduate without doing anything more," Makgetla said. "We made a specific decision not to disrupt--just to make our point."

The point has been visibly made throughout the '77-'78 academic year--from the initial SASC discussion groups in the fall through the creation of a United Front of campus anti-apartheid groups in March and the massive student demonstrations against the Harvard Corporation that followed.

The demonstrations ceased during exam period but United Front leaders have promised to continue protests against the University's investment policies when school resumes in the fall.

In the meantime, the organizers "just want to keep the issues in peoples' minds," Daniel Rabinowitz '78, a SASC leader, said yesterday. "It's going to be a long, hard struggle and we don't want to let it fade away," he added.

The SASC will sponsor a screening of the anti-apartheid film "Last Grave at Dimbaza" and a panel discussion on South Africa in Science Center C at 4:30 this afternoon.