Protest Would Mar Ceremony

In reference to the ongoing brouhaha over the selection of General Colin Powell as Commencement speaker: while I, like many Harvard students, am not ecstatic about the choice of speakers, and while I believe that homosexuals might be justified in their opposition, there is a larger issue to be discussed here.

In your article of April 22, three Harvard affiliates are quoted as saying that, in one way or another, there should be protests against General Powell on Commencement day. Assistant Professor Jeffrey A. Masten suggested that faculty members will protest at Commencement. Harvard Medical School Professor Marshall Forestein suggested a student boycott. Michael Kraut, a graduating law school student, suggested that the Commencement audience should boo Powell upon his receiving the honorary degree.

These calls for protests on Commencement day are completely unacceptable. My parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins are travelling great distances to see one of the proudest days of my life. To have such a once-in-a-lifetime event marred by protesters--whether they be supporters of gays in the military or conservatives who support the status quo--would be wrong. Commencement should be a ceremonious and dignified occasion; protests of any kind have no place at such an event.

For this reason, I beg my fellow members of the University community to debate this issue all you want--before June 10. On that day, let my family and me enjoy what should be a wonderful day. Lawrence S. Carson '93