Students Start Two New Groups

The Committee on College Life (CCL) this week approved an organization to address the concerns of students of mixed races.

One of two organizations approved on Monday, Prism takes its name from "the idea of having one object with a lot of different colors going through it," said co-founder Cathy Hinton '89.

Hinton, who has a Black mother and a white father, said she formed the group to talk with students of similar backgrounds. She said children with parents of different races are often confused about their identity.

"For me, there is a certain level of rejection that you feel from both sides," she said. "I feel that I can move in two worlds, yet I'm never fully accepted by either one."

The group of undergraduate and graduate students--including a married couple with a biracial child--will meet regularly for informal discussion. Hinton said family issues will probably be an important topic for the group.

Kimberly A. McClain '89, who founded the group with Hinton, said that minority organizations often have biracial members, but such groups usually focus on the political and cultural concerns of one race. Biracial students have a grounding in more than one race.

"Prism was formed because we had the feeling that a lot of biracial people don't get to discuss their experiences. Their parents don't know--they aren't biracial--and if you don't have brothers or sisters, you don't have someone who knows how you feel," she said.

Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III said he hoped the group will serve an important function for biracial students.

"These are important issues for people to discern," the dean said.

CCL also approved a literary magazine called The Harvard Quarterly that publisher Pinaki Chakravorty '89 said will "be completely different from everything that has come out yet." The first issue will contain 130 pages printed in book form, with fiction, poetry and artwork by students.

"We want to turn the literary establishment upside down," Chakravorty said.