Counter: `Controversial Figure'

Seven years ago, S. Allen Counter travelled to northern Greenland on a scientific expedition and met the descendants of the Americans who discovered the North Pole.

Counter brought the two men, the 80-year-old Amer-Eskimo sons of Robert E. Peary and Matthew A. Henson, back to the U.S. for a "North Pole Reunion." Their 11-day visit received international attention and was marked by a tribute from President Reagan and an honorary banquet at Harvard.

The event was part of Counter's campaign for fair treatment of Henson, the Black co-explorer who is rarely credited as a north Pole discoverer.

While Peary was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Henson's grave was in the Bronx. Shortly after the "Reunion," President Reagan responded to a petition from Counter and ordered that Henson and his wife be reinterred in Arlington.

The episode is classic Allen counter. His record is that of man with a passionate commitment to African-American culture.

The North Pole event illustrates another aspect of Counter's character: Whether he's bringing a celebrity to campus or filming tribes in the South America, counter does things with flair. The man has a penchant for publicity.

Since becoming director of the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, he also has had a penchant for controversy.

This month, Counter came under fire for a letter criticizing The Crimson'scoverage of the Foundation and minority affairs.His critics charged that the letter hinted at a"racial agenda" shared by the newspaper andHarvard-Radcliffe Hillel.

The letter said that "Crimson writers active inHillel have written extensively" on black-Jewishrelations and that The Crimson "frequently citesthe Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel...as one of thestudent groups that is dissatisfied with theFoundation's work."

Hillel Coordinating Council chair Shai A. Held'93 said the letter was "filled withmisrepresentations, distortions and outrightlies."

And a former Hillel leader called the letterinsensitive and filed a formal complaint askinghim to resign. The Crimson editorial board blastedCounter's "gross insensitivity" in an usual fullpage response.

counter apologized for "any misunderstanding"caused by the letter and began a series ofmeetings with Hillel leaders and Universityofficials. He also apologized if he "inadvertentlycontributed to the tensions" on campus, but he hasnot retracted any of his comments.

"We are seeking a way of keeping the situationcalm and healing wounds," says Rabbi SallyFinestone, acting director of Hillel. "Dr. Counterand I have pledged to have a continuing dialoguebetween Black and Jewish students on campus."

Almost every campus minority group and culturalorganization--except Hillel and a few others--hasexpressed support for Counter.

In a flyer distributed across campus, the BlackStudents Association described him as a"long-standing faculty member who has endlesslylabored to improve race relations" condemned TheCrimson for engaging in "character assassination."

Counter granted one crimson interview since thepublication of his controversial letter, and hassince stopped speaking with all reporters,according to his assistant. He repeatedly declinedto be interviewed for this profile.

Anyone who spends time in universityHall has seen Counter zipping through thecorridors. Friends and colleagues say he workslong hours and never slows down.

A 1977 Dewar's Scotch "Profile" advertisementwidely published in magazines described him as"Energetic, warm, penetrating. Driven by a thirstfor new knowledge that may lead to new truths."

The advertisement may overstate the case, butCounter's co-workers marvel at his constant energyand the myriad of jobs he manages to handle.

"I call him a Renaissance mind," says NatoshaO. Reid '93, co-chair of the Foundation's StudentAdvisory committee. "If he's not in the bio lab,he's at the Foundation; if he's not theFoundation, he's writing a book."

As an associate professor of neurobiology,counter earned a reputation for delivering livelylectures and taking time to counsel students. hehelped form a Black undergraduate science society.

As an amateur explorer in South America, heconfirmed hereditary links betweenAfrican-Americans and jungle tribes in theSuriname. His film and book on the topic werehighly acclaimed.

As director of Harvard's first race relationsagency, he built the Harvard Foundation into aprogram that some say other colleges should use asa model.

Ironically, the student groups that flocked tosupport counter this month were actually opposedto the Foundation and its integrationist missionwhen it was first created in 1981. The Blackstudents Association organized a boycott of theFoundation in 1982.

The minority groups urged the University thento create a Third world Center, a resourceavailable only to minorities which would addressspecific minority concerns.

Plummer Professor of Christian Morals Peter J.Gomes chaired a student-faculty committee whichproposed the Foundation instead, and Counterbecame the office's first director.

"The main challenge to the first director wasto implement the vision to the Gomes Report," saysDean of Students Archie C. Epps III, a member ofthat committee. "We were especially concerned thatthe goal of integration would be overriding."

Counter was charged with the difficult task ofmaking the foundation popular with students aswell as faculty.

Administrative Dean of the Graduate School ofArts and Sciences John B. Fox '54 was dean of theCollege at the time. He says Counter "then, as heis now, was a somewhat controversial figure."

Fox says Counter was always "pushing the issueof racial understanding."

"He was really on the side of the angels," Foxsays. "But angels aren't always understood."

Fox says Counter was by far the strongestcandidate for the job. "He was an extremelyenergetic worker in the area of racialunderstanding and had already established quite areputation for himself," Fox says.

Epps says that Counter has always beencommitted to the inclusive goals of the Foundationand that he has, on the whole, done a good job inimplementing them.

But some students say Counter's recentletter to The Crimson is only the latest ofseveral incidents which displayed insensitivitytoward Jewish students at the College.

Daniel. J. Libenson '92, the former Hillelleader who called for Counter to resign, saysCounter wrote an article in 1985 which uses "codewords" to describe a "Jewish conspiracy" in themedia.

The six-page article, titled "Racial Slurs,"was printed in the NAACP magazine TheCrisis.

The article condemned widespread use of theword "nigger" in the media and theorized about whyit appears more frequently than other ethnicslurs.

Counter suggested that "para-white ethnicgroups" who influence the media use the word"nigger" to denigrate Blacks and "to convincethemselves and other of their imagined whiteidentity." The article never specifically mentionsJews.

One passage says 'the widespread increase inthe use of 'nigger'...may well be part of a muchlarger ethnic scheme designed to denigrateAfro-Americans and keep them as the focus ofnegative attention for the American majority."

another passage reads, "Significantly, themedia forms through which some conspire to traduceBlacks with racial epithets are not controlled bythe ostensibly racist white groups." The articleblames "Euro-American individuals and specialinterest groups with powerful influence in themedia" for common use of the epithet.

Counter refers to movies such as BlazingSaddles, The godfather, Roots II and SaturdayNight Fever and he says the media may do moredamage to Black society than groups such as the KuKlux Klan.

Libenson says Counter uses "the code words thathave traditionally been for a Jewish conspiracy inthe media: in the article, and other Hillelmembers who have read the article say they arealso troubled.

In an interview earlier this month, countersaid the article never mentions a specific ethnicgroup and decline to comment further on the topic.

In 1982, The Crimson filed a formal complaintwith the University against Counter, chargingreligious discrimination.

Counter had allegedly referred to a Crimsonreporter as a "militant Jew" in a conversationwith another Crimson staff member. According tothe reporter, Adam S. Cohen '84, Counter had nevermet him and knew nothing about him except hisname.

The College created a three-person committee toinvestigate the complaint, and the result of theinquiry is a confidential personnel matter,according to Fox.

Hillel records disclosed two other incidentsthat some students felt raised questions aboutCounter's leadership at the Foundation.

One is a May 1985 panel discussion titled"Cross-Cultural Conference on Black-JewishRelations" that was sponsored by the Foundationand moderated by Counter.

According to Hillel records, several studentswere upset that Counter allowed discussion toviolate grounds rules that he allegedly setbeforehand--that only undergraduates couldparticipate, that prepared statements were notpermitted, and that the "South Africa-Israelissue" was off limits.

Jewish students left the panel angry and upset,Hillel records indicate.

Most members of the panel could not be reachedfor comment. Two panel members declined to commenton the events.

The timing of the Foundation's annual CulturalRhythms festival has also been a source offriction between Hillel and the Foundation. Theevent has almost always been held on Saturdays,when many Hillel members cannot participatebecause of the Sabbath.

Hillel prepared a booth in 1986 and did notstaff it. The organization sent an angry letter tothe Foundation the next year saying that memberswere upset about the scheduling, according toHillel records.

Cultural Rhythms still takes place on Saturdaybut extends late enough into the night that Jewsobserving the Sabbath can participate.

A foundation official says the event wasscheduled for Sunday once but few people attended.Even the present late-afternoon scheduling of theevent is difficult for many students, the officialsays.

Held, the chair of Hillel's coordinatingcouncil, says students are upset by Counter'srecent letter and are concerned about the issue.

"I think it's very clear that a great manystudents were deeply offended and are deeplydisturbed by the letter," he says.

But several students and colleagues deny thatCounter is insensitive to Jewish concerns.

Linda L. Wei '92, former Asian AmericanAssociation president, says counter always treatedHillel like any other student organization.

Wei says she "hasn't seen any indication of[insensitivity to Jewish concerns]" by Counter. "Ithink he's always tried to be inclusive," shesays.

"I haven't seen any unfavorable relations withHillel," says Reid, the student advisory committeeco-chair.

Drusilla D. Blackman, a GSAS dean who is amember of the advisory committee, says counter"seems to be sensitive, concerned with otherminority groups, and students from Hillel."

His recent complaint about Crimson coverage isnot the first. In 1982, Counter criticized TheCrimson for its coverage of the Foundation,charging that the newspaper highlighted theorganization's troubles without adequatelyreporting its accomplishments.

The conflict culminated in a meeting attendedby Counter, representatives of several minoritygroups, and The Crimson's executive editors. "Ageneral agreement was reached to strive towardopen communication and cooperation, and thecontroversy surrounding the Foundation faded intoexam period," The Crimson reported at the time.

Many students and College officials emphasizethe good that Counter and the foundation haveaccomplished.

"I think Allen has been one of the majorfigures in preventing the trouble they have onother campuses," says Richard Marius, seniorlecturer on English and a member of theFoundation's faculty advisory committee.

When Counter first took the job, he seemedreluctant to completely sacrifice his research. "Iam a scientist first, before other things, and Iwill make my best contribution in that area," hesaid in 1982.

Today, at age 47, counter is almost completelyenmeshed in his duties at the Foundation. Hiscareer is an extraordinary one.

Counter grew up in the "rigidly segregated"community of Boynton, Fla. and escaped with thehelp of parents who viewed education "as part oftheir religious belief, not just a thing to do foreconomics," he told The Crimson in 1982.

He arrived at Harvard's Biology Department in1970 with a bachelor's degree from TennesseeUniversity and a Ph.D in neurobiology from Casewestern Reserve. he earned an assistantprofessorship in 1972, and an associate post in1977.

Counter was denied tenure in 1980, and moved tothe Medical School, where he still holds anassistant professorship. He travels to theKarolinska, Nobel Institute in Sweden every summerto do clinical research in a quite setting.

Counter has since stopped teaching biology andhis most well-know accomplishments are probablyhis field research in south America and theArctic.

In 1971, he began a series of amateurexplorations of the South American Surinam rainforest to do cultural studies among isolatedtribes of African back-ground.

He and Harvard senior admissions officer DavidL. Evans, made seven voyages. During each, theylived among the Djuka tribespeople and documentedtheir communal and cooperative way of life.

The trips resulted in an award-winningdocumentary film and a book, I sought MyBrother.

His anthropological work won him respect andnational recognition. In 1988, he was asked tohead City University of New York's Medgar EversUniversity.

But the community college incident was anothercontroversy with Counter in the thick of it.

Representatives of the college announced inJune 1988 that Counter had officially accepted anoffer to head the school.

But two days later, Counter embarrassed theuniversity by saying it had "made a mistake."Counter said he had agreed only to be a candidatefor the post and he formally rejected the job amonth later.

Counter also blasted the school's standing."There is considerable doubt regarding thecontinued existence and viability of Medgar EversCollege as an independent institution," he said.

By the time of the Medgar Evers episode, manyconsidered Counter to be a leader in theAfrican-American community. He had already beenfeatured in the Dewar's ad, and his new book andfilm from his arctic trips--The North PoleLegacy Black, White and Eskimo--received aspecial NAACP Image award.

Counter has used this stature to bring minoritycelebrity speakers to Harvard.

Marius recalls "dazzling his children" with ameeting he had with Diana Ross that Counterarranged.

Indeed, the Foundation's office is plasteredwith posters of the luminaries that counter hasbrought to Harvard: Phylicia Rashad, Alex Haley,David Henry Hwang and Jimmy Smits to name just afew.

Marius and other faculty members say the guestspeakers have helped improve race relations andraised consciousness on campus. They creditcounter's personal style as charismatic and fullof energy.

"I think the work the Foundation has done underhis leadership has been very valuable for theHarvard community," says Radcliffe College DeanPhilippa A. Bovet, a member of the advisorycommittee.

Says Epps, "I don't think he's an anti-Semiticperson. I think we all must give him the benefitof the doubt. He's trying to guide us through themine field of race relations."Crimson File Photo

The letter said that "Crimson writers active inHillel have written extensively" on black-Jewishrelations and that The Crimson "frequently citesthe Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel...as one of thestudent groups that is dissatisfied with theFoundation's work."

Hillel Coordinating Council chair Shai A. Held'93 said the letter was "filled withmisrepresentations, distortions and outrightlies."

And a former Hillel leader called the letterinsensitive and filed a formal complaint askinghim to resign. The Crimson editorial board blastedCounter's "gross insensitivity" in an usual fullpage response.

counter apologized for "any misunderstanding"caused by the letter and began a series ofmeetings with Hillel leaders and Universityofficials. He also apologized if he "inadvertentlycontributed to the tensions" on campus, but he hasnot retracted any of his comments.

"We are seeking a way of keeping the situationcalm and healing wounds," says Rabbi SallyFinestone, acting director of Hillel. "Dr. Counterand I have pledged to have a continuing dialoguebetween Black and Jewish students on campus."

Almost every campus minority group and culturalorganization--except Hillel and a few others--hasexpressed support for Counter.

In a flyer distributed across campus, the BlackStudents Association described him as a"long-standing faculty member who has endlesslylabored to improve race relations" condemned TheCrimson for engaging in "character assassination."

Counter granted one crimson interview since thepublication of his controversial letter, and hassince stopped speaking with all reporters,according to his assistant. He repeatedly declinedto be interviewed for this profile.

Anyone who spends time in universityHall has seen Counter zipping through thecorridors. Friends and colleagues say he workslong hours and never slows down.

A 1977 Dewar's Scotch "Profile" advertisementwidely published in magazines described him as"Energetic, warm, penetrating. Driven by a thirstfor new knowledge that may lead to new truths."

The advertisement may overstate the case, butCounter's co-workers marvel at his constant energyand the myriad of jobs he manages to handle.

"I call him a Renaissance mind," says NatoshaO. Reid '93, co-chair of the Foundation's StudentAdvisory committee. "If he's not in the bio lab,he's at the Foundation; if he's not theFoundation, he's writing a book."

As an associate professor of neurobiology,counter earned a reputation for delivering livelylectures and taking time to counsel students. hehelped form a Black undergraduate science society.

As an amateur explorer in South America, heconfirmed hereditary links betweenAfrican-Americans and jungle tribes in theSuriname. His film and book on the topic werehighly acclaimed.

As director of Harvard's first race relationsagency, he built the Harvard Foundation into aprogram that some say other colleges should use asa model.

Ironically, the student groups that flocked tosupport counter this month were actually opposedto the Foundation and its integrationist missionwhen it was first created in 1981. The Blackstudents Association organized a boycott of theFoundation in 1982.

The minority groups urged the University thento create a Third world Center, a resourceavailable only to minorities which would addressspecific minority concerns.

Plummer Professor of Christian Morals Peter J.Gomes chaired a student-faculty committee whichproposed the Foundation instead, and Counterbecame the office's first director.

"The main challenge to the first director wasto implement the vision to the Gomes Report," saysDean of Students Archie C. Epps III, a member ofthat committee. "We were especially concerned thatthe goal of integration would be overriding."

Counter was charged with the difficult task ofmaking the foundation popular with students aswell as faculty.

Administrative Dean of the Graduate School ofArts and Sciences John B. Fox '54 was dean of theCollege at the time. He says Counter "then, as heis now, was a somewhat controversial figure."

Fox says Counter was always "pushing the issueof racial understanding."

"He was really on the side of the angels," Foxsays. "But angels aren't always understood."

Fox says Counter was by far the strongestcandidate for the job. "He was an extremelyenergetic worker in the area of racialunderstanding and had already established quite areputation for himself," Fox says.

Epps says that Counter has always beencommitted to the inclusive goals of the Foundationand that he has, on the whole, done a good job inimplementing them.

But some students say Counter's recentletter to The Crimson is only the latest ofseveral incidents which displayed insensitivitytoward Jewish students at the College.

Daniel. J. Libenson '92, the former Hillelleader who called for Counter to resign, saysCounter wrote an article in 1985 which uses "codewords" to describe a "Jewish conspiracy" in themedia.

The six-page article, titled "Racial Slurs,"was printed in the NAACP magazine TheCrisis.

The article condemned widespread use of theword "nigger" in the media and theorized about whyit appears more frequently than other ethnicslurs.

Counter suggested that "para-white ethnicgroups" who influence the media use the word"nigger" to denigrate Blacks and "to convincethemselves and other of their imagined whiteidentity." The article never specifically mentionsJews.

One passage says 'the widespread increase inthe use of 'nigger'...may well be part of a muchlarger ethnic scheme designed to denigrateAfro-Americans and keep them as the focus ofnegative attention for the American majority."

another passage reads, "Significantly, themedia forms through which some conspire to traduceBlacks with racial epithets are not controlled bythe ostensibly racist white groups." The articleblames "Euro-American individuals and specialinterest groups with powerful influence in themedia" for common use of the epithet.

Counter refers to movies such as BlazingSaddles, The godfather, Roots II and SaturdayNight Fever and he says the media may do moredamage to Black society than groups such as the KuKlux Klan.

Libenson says Counter uses "the code words thathave traditionally been for a Jewish conspiracy inthe media: in the article, and other Hillelmembers who have read the article say they arealso troubled.

In an interview earlier this month, countersaid the article never mentions a specific ethnicgroup and decline to comment further on the topic.

In 1982, The Crimson filed a formal complaintwith the University against Counter, chargingreligious discrimination.

Counter had allegedly referred to a Crimsonreporter as a "militant Jew" in a conversationwith another Crimson staff member. According tothe reporter, Adam S. Cohen '84, Counter had nevermet him and knew nothing about him except hisname.

The College created a three-person committee toinvestigate the complaint, and the result of theinquiry is a confidential personnel matter,according to Fox.

Hillel records disclosed two other incidentsthat some students felt raised questions aboutCounter's leadership at the Foundation.

One is a May 1985 panel discussion titled"Cross-Cultural Conference on Black-JewishRelations" that was sponsored by the Foundationand moderated by Counter.

According to Hillel records, several studentswere upset that Counter allowed discussion toviolate grounds rules that he allegedly setbeforehand--that only undergraduates couldparticipate, that prepared statements were notpermitted, and that the "South Africa-Israelissue" was off limits.

Jewish students left the panel angry and upset,Hillel records indicate.

Most members of the panel could not be reachedfor comment. Two panel members declined to commenton the events.

The timing of the Foundation's annual CulturalRhythms festival has also been a source offriction between Hillel and the Foundation. Theevent has almost always been held on Saturdays,when many Hillel members cannot participatebecause of the Sabbath.

Hillel prepared a booth in 1986 and did notstaff it. The organization sent an angry letter tothe Foundation the next year saying that memberswere upset about the scheduling, according toHillel records.

Cultural Rhythms still takes place on Saturdaybut extends late enough into the night that Jewsobserving the Sabbath can participate.

A foundation official says the event wasscheduled for Sunday once but few people attended.Even the present late-afternoon scheduling of theevent is difficult for many students, the officialsays.

Held, the chair of Hillel's coordinatingcouncil, says students are upset by Counter'srecent letter and are concerned about the issue.

"I think it's very clear that a great manystudents were deeply offended and are deeplydisturbed by the letter," he says.

But several students and colleagues deny thatCounter is insensitive to Jewish concerns.

Linda L. Wei '92, former Asian AmericanAssociation president, says counter always treatedHillel like any other student organization.

Wei says she "hasn't seen any indication of[insensitivity to Jewish concerns]" by Counter. "Ithink he's always tried to be inclusive," shesays.

"I haven't seen any unfavorable relations withHillel," says Reid, the student advisory committeeco-chair.

Drusilla D. Blackman, a GSAS dean who is amember of the advisory committee, says counter"seems to be sensitive, concerned with otherminority groups, and students from Hillel."

His recent complaint about Crimson coverage isnot the first. In 1982, Counter criticized TheCrimson for its coverage of the Foundation,charging that the newspaper highlighted theorganization's troubles without adequatelyreporting its accomplishments.

The conflict culminated in a meeting attendedby Counter, representatives of several minoritygroups, and The Crimson's executive editors. "Ageneral agreement was reached to strive towardopen communication and cooperation, and thecontroversy surrounding the Foundation faded intoexam period," The Crimson reported at the time.

Many students and College officials emphasizethe good that Counter and the foundation haveaccomplished.

"I think Allen has been one of the majorfigures in preventing the trouble they have onother campuses," says Richard Marius, seniorlecturer on English and a member of theFoundation's faculty advisory committee.

When Counter first took the job, he seemedreluctant to completely sacrifice his research. "Iam a scientist first, before other things, and Iwill make my best contribution in that area," hesaid in 1982.

Today, at age 47, counter is almost completelyenmeshed in his duties at the Foundation. Hiscareer is an extraordinary one.

Counter grew up in the "rigidly segregated"community of Boynton, Fla. and escaped with thehelp of parents who viewed education "as part oftheir religious belief, not just a thing to do foreconomics," he told The Crimson in 1982.

He arrived at Harvard's Biology Department in1970 with a bachelor's degree from TennesseeUniversity and a Ph.D in neurobiology from Casewestern Reserve. he earned an assistantprofessorship in 1972, and an associate post in1977.

Counter was denied tenure in 1980, and moved tothe Medical School, where he still holds anassistant professorship. He travels to theKarolinska, Nobel Institute in Sweden every summerto do clinical research in a quite setting.

Counter has since stopped teaching biology andhis most well-know accomplishments are probablyhis field research in south America and theArctic.

In 1971, he began a series of amateurexplorations of the South American Surinam rainforest to do cultural studies among isolatedtribes of African back-ground.

He and Harvard senior admissions officer DavidL. Evans, made seven voyages. During each, theylived among the Djuka tribespeople and documentedtheir communal and cooperative way of life.

The trips resulted in an award-winningdocumentary film and a book, I sought MyBrother.

His anthropological work won him respect andnational recognition. In 1988, he was asked tohead City University of New York's Medgar EversUniversity.

But the community college incident was anothercontroversy with Counter in the thick of it.

Representatives of the college announced inJune 1988 that Counter had officially accepted anoffer to head the school.

But two days later, Counter embarrassed theuniversity by saying it had "made a mistake."Counter said he had agreed only to be a candidatefor the post and he formally rejected the job amonth later.

Counter also blasted the school's standing."There is considerable doubt regarding thecontinued existence and viability of Medgar EversCollege as an independent institution," he said.

By the time of the Medgar Evers episode, manyconsidered Counter to be a leader in theAfrican-American community. He had already beenfeatured in the Dewar's ad, and his new book andfilm from his arctic trips--The North PoleLegacy Black, White and Eskimo--received aspecial NAACP Image award.

Counter has used this stature to bring minoritycelebrity speakers to Harvard.

Marius recalls "dazzling his children" with ameeting he had with Diana Ross that Counterarranged.

Indeed, the Foundation's office is plasteredwith posters of the luminaries that counter hasbrought to Harvard: Phylicia Rashad, Alex Haley,David Henry Hwang and Jimmy Smits to name just afew.

Marius and other faculty members say the guestspeakers have helped improve race relations andraised consciousness on campus. They creditcounter's personal style as charismatic and fullof energy.

"I think the work the Foundation has done underhis leadership has been very valuable for theHarvard community," says Radcliffe College DeanPhilippa A. Bovet, a member of the advisorycommittee.

Says Epps, "I don't think he's an anti-Semiticperson. I think we all must give him the benefitof the doubt. He's trying to guide us through themine field of race relations."Crimson File Photo