HRCF Takes Political Stand

In its first ever politically-oriented discussion, the Harvard-Radcliffe Christian Fellowship (HRCF) last night debated and postponed a vote to urge Harvard to pursue a more aggressive policy of minority recruitment than currently exists.

Last night's resolution was proposed by a six-member committee which investigated the history and philosophy of minority recruitment at Harvard. The committee members unanimously spoke in favor of the resolution's passage.

The proposal will be discussed again at an open meeting Wednesday night, and will be decided by vote on Friday. "People wanted a little more time to reflect on it," said John Young '87-'89, president of HRCF.

"Harvard explains its performance in terms of [the] limited pool [of applicants]--but surely the pool can't be that small," said Betsy Mark '89. In its yet-to-be approved proposal, the committee cited Biblical, philosophical and practical arguments to "question Harvard's honesty in self-assessment, faithfulness to its word and basic commitment to doing justice."

The proposed resolution calls for the Harvard administration "to come forth with a centralized policy which would replace the current confusion and complacency with vigorous and directed efforts to recruit minority faculty and to develop the pool of minority scholars."

The committee further cited Harvard's symbolic role in the academic community and the need for minority role models.

Calling Harvard's recruitment system an "old boy network," Tim Shah '92 said "Harvard's academics consists of people helping their friends...most of these friends are not minorities."

Currently, 5.8 percent of Harvard's tenured faculty are minorities, and only 1.4 percent are Black, according to the report of the Minority Student Alliance.

In its finding, the committee urged Harvard to honor the findings of the Whitla Report of 1980 which--along with this year's report of the Minority Student Association--called for increased minority recruitment.

"By applying student pressure, we can avoid the report going the way of the Whitla Report," said Steven Barr '89.

The committee also criticized Harvard's inclusion of visiting foreign scholars in its count of minority faculty. Shah noted that neither Yale nor Princeton includes foreign scholars, and both still rank higher than Harvard in percentages of minority faculty.

The Fellowship decided to take a stand on a political issue as part of its "commitment to avoiding lopsidedness," said Young. "We need to start integrating what we believe and what we say with what we do," said Minority Student Alliance founder Curtis Chang '90.

"It would be unjust for us to do nothing in the face of injustice," said Burr.

Chang said that the HRCF will continue address political issues, and in the future may consider apartheid, homelessness and date rape.