Law Students Dominate Courts With Hemenway B-Ball League

The Law School has bought all the basketball court time at Hemenway Gymnasium for the rest of the season and by excluding all non-Law students from their intramural league has left Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) students with no opportunity to participate in University-sponsored athletics.

In previous years the Law School's intramural basketball league has accepted teams from outside the Law School, but this year only the 50 teams from within the school will be allowed to participate, Mary D. Upton, dean of students in the Law School said yesterday.

The Law School rents Hemenway from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and currently pays 45 per cent of the building's maintenance, Upton said, adding, "We're not trying to exclude anyone, but our own people have got to come first."

Herman L. Marshall, the president of the Graduate Student Council said the exclusion of GSAS students from the Law School's league was unfair because there are not enough people at GSAS to form an independent league. The Law School does not have the right to prohibit people from using the building because "it is not their property," he said.

The rules and regulations of the Harvard Department of Athletics state that Hemenway is open to anyone with University identification. But an Athletic Department employee said yesterday that the Hemenway basketball court was not available because the Law School had "taken it for the rest of the season."

Upton said Hemenway was open on Friday nights and added that not only GSAS people had been excluded from the league. There are between 11 and 13 teams, including six from the Kennedy School and one from the School of Design, she said.

Outside teams have also been excluded from the Law School's league because in the past it has been characterized by "excessive force," Upton said. Two years ago an undergraduate took legal action against the Law School after his jaw was broken during a game.

The administration of GSAS has "made it clear that any actions of GSAS students will be their responsibility," Marshall said. But Upton said it was important to limit the number of people using the gymnasium to "a size we can control."

GSAS does not now but is currently considering purchasing some court time for its students. Until then, "our people ought to be able to play some place," Richard A. Kraus, associate dean of administration in GSAS said yesterday.