'Stalinist Purges' at the Harvard Republican Club

To the Editors of The Crimson:

With the great amount of coverage that Sumner E. Anderson '92, president of the Harvard Republican Club, has gotten, I feel it is my duty to present another point of view on the controversy surrounding the club over the last few weeks. All along, the tactics of Anderson and his cohorts on the executive board of the club have been exemplary of the basest kind of politics. Ultimately, their actions have undermined the true goal of educating the campus in Republican views.

Anderson's letter to The Crimson of March 20 endorsing Peninsula was the first example of his and the board's immoral behavior. We never discussed the club's support for Peninsula and its positions with members at a general meeting. Anderson never sought any member's input on the issue. Instead, the issue was only discussed at an executive board meeting, which Anderson and his sycophants used to ram the letter through without alteration or amendment.

Several of those who had opposed the letter resigned in light of the dictatorial manner with which it was passed. Anderson, doing what he later referred to as "a cleaning-out process," then stacked the executive board with people whom he knew would agree with him.

Following the publication of The Crimson's profile of Anderson on May 7 [Taking a Sharp Turn to the Right], Anderson and his tyrannical majority tried to prevent vice-president David R. Ackley '91 and me, the two remaining dissenters on the board, from publicly voicing our opposition to his statements.

Anderson and his majority, in a series of midnight "emergency" meetings, told Ackley and me that the board could not tolerate dissent. They pressured Ackley to resign and, when he refused, they called another meeting to pass a measure to relieve him of his duties and condemn his actions.

As if this sort of dictatorial and oppressive behavior weren't enough, they said that I was to be next in line in to lose my duties as an officer of the club.

The board's tactics are reminiscent of the Stalinist purges of the 1930s. Their actions have not only splintered Republicans on campus, but have gone a long way toward destroying the club's image as one that encourages debate on campus. For a group that prides itself on being religious and moral, their recent behavior has been deplorable. I can only hope that they see the light next year. Jeremy Sevaried '92   program director,   Harvard Republican Club