Officials Active In Board Election

Members and officers of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) are actively campaigning for their official slate in upcoming Board of Overseers elections, apparently for the first time since a similar letter from a University official provoked controversy three years ago.

According to a letter written by Peter L. Malkin '55, one of HAA's ten official nominees, HAA wants to insure that "dissident" candidates, including South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, are not elected to the 30-member alumni governing board. Malkin said he wrote the letter in response to strong campaigning for five independently nominated pro-divestment candidates

"The Harvard administration are very concerned that the dissident petition slate of five candidates, headed by Bishop Tutu, may play havoc with, the administration of Harvard unless more than the usual effort is made to encourage the election of candidates selected for nomination through the normal channels," Malkin wrote in the letter.

The University has traditionally remained neutral in overseer elections. Malkin's letter marks the first campaigning by an HAA affiliate or University official since President Derek C. Bok authorized a mailing endorsing the official slate two years ago.

That letter, written by former Overseers Chair Joan T. Bok '51, no relation, drew strong criticism. University officials have since said they did not want to "politicize" annual overseer elections.

Malkin's letter comes a month after a pro-divestment group, Harvard-Radcliffe Alumni Against Apartheid (HRAAA), nominated Tutu and four others for the Board. For the last four years, HRAAA has nominated its own slate of candidates in an effort to force a vote on the University's remaining $168 million invested in South African related businesses.

During that time, HAA members and other Harvard officials have often crticized the candidacy of what they call "single-issue candidates." Malkin said in an interview yesterday that most of the HRAAA candidates have not proven they are qualified to serve on Harvard's governing boards.

HRAAA officials contacted yesterday, however, said Malkin's criticisms were unfounded.

"I am appalled at the thought that the Harvard administration thinks the position of Tutu on the board would wreak havoc," said Robert P. Wolff '54, HRAAA director.

Nominating candidates through petition drives, HRAAA has always run highly public and political campaigns for the Board of Overseers, and HRAAA members said yesterday they welcomed open electioneering on either side.

HRAAA has already sent out two mailings to alumni this spring, and Tutu has said publicly he would give back his 1979 honorary degree if he did not win a seat.

"I think [the election] should be open and out front," said HRAAA member Herbert Gleason, who received Malkin's letter. "I'm not at all complaining about people's being committed to their cause."

Malkin said yesterday he wrote his letter morethan a month ago only because he had received aletter from Professor of Law Derrick A. Bellurging alumni to support Tutu and the otherpro-divestment candidates.

"The petition slate of candidates was actuallyelectioneering for votes, something which had notcome to my attention before," Malkin said."Frankly, I was rather surprised by that."

Malkin also said that the Bell letter, mailedby HRAAA to former members of the Law School'sLegal Aid Bureau, was written on official LawSchool stationery. Malkin said it was against LawSchool policy to send letters on Law Schoolstationery unless they were for official business.

Bell could not be reached for comment, butWolff said using the official stationery was onlyan oversight.

Both Malkin and HRAAA members said theyexpected Tutu to win an overseer seat