BSA Describes Campus As `Hostile Environment'

More than 40 black students walked out of a symposium on race sponsored by the conservative magazine Peninsula last night after one speaker called sexual liberation the primary cause of the breakdown of some Black families and used the word "Negro" 15 times.

The students, who declined to comment on their walkout, left Sever Hall 113 just after Fidelity magazine Editor E. Michael Jones said, "Slavery was bad, reconstruction was worse and the migration North was the worst."

Jones, father of Peninsula contributor Adam M. Jones '92, was the second speaker of the evening. His speech used a government report on race, written by Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) in 1965 and endorsed by former President Lyndon Johnson, to take a critical look at the civil rights movement and sexual liberation.

The walkout took place six days after Peninsulamembers posted a flyer advertising the symposiumin Cabot and Mather Houses. The flyer, whichcontained the words "spade" and "Negro" and showeda Black woman performing a striptease for a whiteaudience, was condemned by the Black StudentsAssociation (BSA) and also by College officials,who issued a statement Tuesday calling the flyer"offensive, hurtful and insensitive."

And in a door-drop to students late Tuesdaynight entitled "On the harvard Plantation," theBSA charged four campus groups, including TheCrimson and Peninsula, with perpetratinginjustices upon "people of Color."

"I think [the walkout] was a constructive wayfor people to express their disapproval," saidDean of Students Archie C. Epps III, who waspresent for the speech and took a seat on thespeaker's platform with Jones after the walkout.

But Peninsula members involved inorganizing the protest said they were disappointedby the walkout.

"People have every right to walk out," saidRoger J. Landry '92, a founding editor of themagazine.

"But I would like to believe that Harvardstudents would have more class than to make ascene to disrupt a set of ideas with which theydisagree."

Jones, who is white, used extensive quotationsto argue that white liberals co-opted the civilrights movements to advance the cause of sexualliberation at the expense of Blacks. He wasinterrupted more than a dozen times during his 45minute speech with hisses and shouts by members ofthe audience of 120:

. Jones was hissed when he referred to HowardUniversity as a "traditionally Negro university inWashington D.C."

. He was corrected loudly when he mispronouncedthe name of Black sociologist W.E. Dubois "Dubwa"instead of "Duboys."

. Several students yelled at Jones after hesaid Martin Luther King Jr. was "divided" on theissue of sex, arguing that King was at the sametime a religious man and a "sexual athlete".

. Jones was interrupted repeatedly by Rev.Eugene Rivers '83 during a question and answersession. At one point, as Jones answered aquestion by saying "There were other problemsduring the 1960s--there was the Vietnam War ..."Rivers, who had sparred with the speaker earlierin the session, interjected, "sex".

Among the evening's other spontaneous displayswas a standing ovation by many students as HarvardFoundation Director S. Allen Counter entered theroom.

Counter, who has come under criticism for aletter he wrote to The Crimson last week, wassupported yesterday by a letter written by severalFoundation members.

Counter, who was present for the entiresymposium, seemed dismayed as he left, sayingonly, "I am deeply saddened."

Gloria G. Hardy, a social worker at SouthSuburban College, Chicago, was the evening's firstspeaker. She spoke of her experiences as a childbeing sexually molested by relatives and as asocial worker talking with families on Chicago'sSouth Side.

"When you have broken-down, dysfunctionalfamilies, you're going to have dysfunctionalcommunities," said Hardy, who is Black. "I camehere tonight to speak for those who cannot speakfor themselves."

During the question and answer period, Hardywas asked by several students whether theunderstood Peninsula's mission and whethershe was aware of the flyer.

"I don't know that what Peninsula is,"said Hardy. She said she did not know about theflyer.

Other Harvard officials in attendance includedAssistant Dean of Race Relations and MinorityAffairs Hilda Hernandez-Gravelle and HarvardUniversity Police Chief Paul E. Johnson, whosedepartment was accused by the doordrop ofmistreating Black Harvard students.

Jonnson said he had dispatched two officers toSever Hall for the speech after a Universityrequest for extra help earlier in the day.

And Hernandez-Gravelle said she did not thinkthe conference would help ease racial tensions oncampus.

"I don't believe this is a conversation that isproductive to race relations on campus," saidHernandez-Gravelle, asked about Peninsula'srole in the symposium. "I think it is a shame thatthe issue of race is being exploited by somemembers of the community."

Jones was challenged frequently for his focuson sexual liberation as the primary explanationfor the large number of dysfunctional Blackfamilies.

Rivers, for one, criticized Jones for his useof quotations and facts. "I have read all theliterature that is from '64'-65," he said, citingthe Moynihan report as an example. "And that's whyI'm so surprised at your exploitation of thisyoung audience."

Peninsula staffers said they weredismayed by the free-for-all attitude thatdominated the event.

"I was very discouraged that students came heremore predisposed to talking and presenting theirviews rather than listening to the very qualifiedspeakers," Landry said.

And many of the administrators in attendanceseemed disturbed by the angry tone of theexchanges.

"I don't think there was much give-and-take,"said Epps, "so I don't think there was muchunderstanding.

The walkout took place six days after Peninsulamembers posted a flyer advertising the symposiumin Cabot and Mather Houses. The flyer, whichcontained the words "spade" and "Negro" and showeda Black woman performing a striptease for a whiteaudience, was condemned by the Black StudentsAssociation (BSA) and also by College officials,who issued a statement Tuesday calling the flyer"offensive, hurtful and insensitive."

And in a door-drop to students late Tuesdaynight entitled "On the harvard Plantation," theBSA charged four campus groups, including TheCrimson and Peninsula, with perpetratinginjustices upon "people of Color."

"I think [the walkout] was a constructive wayfor people to express their disapproval," saidDean of Students Archie C. Epps III, who waspresent for the speech and took a seat on thespeaker's platform with Jones after the walkout.

But Peninsula members involved inorganizing the protest said they were disappointedby the walkout.

"People have every right to walk out," saidRoger J. Landry '92, a founding editor of themagazine.

"But I would like to believe that Harvardstudents would have more class than to make ascene to disrupt a set of ideas with which theydisagree."

Jones, who is white, used extensive quotationsto argue that white liberals co-opted the civilrights movements to advance the cause of sexualliberation at the expense of Blacks. He wasinterrupted more than a dozen times during his 45minute speech with hisses and shouts by members ofthe audience of 120:

. Jones was hissed when he referred to HowardUniversity as a "traditionally Negro university inWashington D.C."

. He was corrected loudly when he mispronouncedthe name of Black sociologist W.E. Dubois "Dubwa"instead of "Duboys."

. Several students yelled at Jones after hesaid Martin Luther King Jr. was "divided" on theissue of sex, arguing that King was at the sametime a religious man and a "sexual athlete".

. Jones was interrupted repeatedly by Rev.Eugene Rivers '83 during a question and answersession. At one point, as Jones answered aquestion by saying "There were other problemsduring the 1960s--there was the Vietnam War ..."Rivers, who had sparred with the speaker earlierin the session, interjected, "sex".

Among the evening's other spontaneous displayswas a standing ovation by many students as HarvardFoundation Director S. Allen Counter entered theroom.

Counter, who has come under criticism for aletter he wrote to The Crimson last week, wassupported yesterday by a letter written by severalFoundation members.

Counter, who was present for the entiresymposium, seemed dismayed as he left, sayingonly, "I am deeply saddened."

Gloria G. Hardy, a social worker at SouthSuburban College, Chicago, was the evening's firstspeaker. She spoke of her experiences as a childbeing sexually molested by relatives and as asocial worker talking with families on Chicago'sSouth Side.

"When you have broken-down, dysfunctionalfamilies, you're going to have dysfunctionalcommunities," said Hardy, who is Black. "I camehere tonight to speak for those who cannot speakfor themselves."

During the question and answer period, Hardywas asked by several students whether theunderstood Peninsula's mission and whethershe was aware of the flyer.

"I don't know that what Peninsula is,"said Hardy. She said she did not know about theflyer.

Other Harvard officials in attendance includedAssistant Dean of Race Relations and MinorityAffairs Hilda Hernandez-Gravelle and HarvardUniversity Police Chief Paul E. Johnson, whosedepartment was accused by the doordrop ofmistreating Black Harvard students.

Jonnson said he had dispatched two officers toSever Hall for the speech after a Universityrequest for extra help earlier in the day.

And Hernandez-Gravelle said she did not thinkthe conference would help ease racial tensions oncampus.

"I don't believe this is a conversation that isproductive to race relations on campus," saidHernandez-Gravelle, asked about Peninsula'srole in the symposium. "I think it is a shame thatthe issue of race is being exploited by somemembers of the community."

Jones was challenged frequently for his focuson sexual liberation as the primary explanationfor the large number of dysfunctional Blackfamilies.

Rivers, for one, criticized Jones for his useof quotations and facts. "I have read all theliterature that is from '64'-65," he said, citingthe Moynihan report as an example. "And that's whyI'm so surprised at your exploitation of thisyoung audience."

Peninsula staffers said they weredismayed by the free-for-all attitude thatdominated the event.

"I was very discouraged that students came heremore predisposed to talking and presenting theirviews rather than listening to the very qualifiedspeakers," Landry said.

And many of the administrators in attendanceseemed disturbed by the angry tone of theexchanges.

"I don't think there was much give-and-take,"said Epps, "so I don't think there was muchunderstanding.