Students Back House Master Before School Committee

More than 30 angry Cambridge Rindge and Latin high school (CRLS) students protested the possible replacement of an acting administrator at a meeting of the Cambridge School Committee last night.

In a rare suspension of the rules, the committee voted, before an audience of nearly 100 people, to reject a personnel nomination on the same night it was submitted.

Cambridge Rindge and Latin students, staff and parents expressed their unanimous support of acting Assistant House Master Clarence Gaynor, who is Black. Gaynor has held the position for three years.

Carrying signs which read "Stop the disenfranchisement of Blacks," "Black administration is an endangered species," and "Do not preach diversity, practice it," students circled the committee tables to allow the audience to read their slogans.

Committee Superintendent Mary Lou McGrath's nominated Boston school Administrator Ruben L. Stern for the permanent position of assistant house master. The nomination of Stern, who is Hispanic, provoked sharp criticism from audience members who accused her of "pitting minority against minority."

Gaynor's CRLS colleagues criticized McGrath for failing to nominate Gaynor for the position and questioned the equity of the school system's advancement process.

"What do we tell the young people who have watched Clarence Gaynor work all these years?" asked Lester Kimbow, a CRLS teacher and friend of Gaynor's. "What do we tell the young men...the young Black men?"

Kimbow said he was disturbed by the superintendent's decision to replace one minority with another.

"We need Clarence Gainer. We need Ruben Sterns. But they should not have been pitted against each other," Kimbow said.

Another speaker, Caroline Huntzer, chastised the superintendent, saying, "This is a sad night for Cambridge."

Huntzer warned the school committee that the Black community might be angered by Gaynor's failure to secure the position.

"I tell you, I'm glad it's an election year," Huntzer said. "Because if we can't put our faith in you, we'll have to put our trust in the ballot box."

CRLS students said they believed Gaynor should be appointed to the position.

Charles Dunn, senior class treasurer and president of the Black student union, said Gaynor was a role model and a friend.

"If it weren't for Mr. Gaynor, I wouldn't be here now and I wouldn't be going to college next year," Dunn said.

School committee members said they were impressed by the speakers' testimonies and moved to suspend the rules in order to reject the superintendent's proposal immediately.