Epps Delays Group Recogniti

Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III put off recognizing nine proposed student organizations at yesterday's Committee on College Life (COCL) meeting for nearly two weeks due to concerns about a tenth group, some of whose members are affiliated with the Boston Church of Christ.

"I have been meeting for the past couple of years with students interested in having a ministry on campus affiliated with the Boston Church of Christ," Epps said. "I'm proposing a formal meeting of the Committee on College Life to discuss [that organization] or to propose other student organizations at that meeting."

COCL member Michael J. Hrnicek '96 has proposed a student Bible study group, Harvard Christians in Action, some of whose members are affiliated with the controversial church, which is also called the International Church of Christ.

Hrnicek says Epps has been postponing recognition of his group out of religious prejudice. According to Hrnicek, some proctors view Boston Church of Christ as a cult.

Terri E. Gerstein '90, a proctor in Holworthy Hall, said she alerted her first-year residents to be wary when approached by members of the Boston Church of Christ, among other religious groups.

"It was because of my personal experience as an undergraduate that I brought them up in particular," Gerstein said. "There are religious groups that prey on freshmen who are lonely and who are having a hard time adjusting here and that suck them in."

Epps said Monday that he has questions about the proposed student group's autonomy, not its beliefs. To win official College endorsement, a group must retain local autonomy, among other requirements.

But at yesterday's COCL meeting. Epps said "a proctor with complaints about the conduct of some members of the church" will speak at the special meeting of the COCL, to be held Monday, December 19.

Hrnicek said Epps' statement implies that the special meeting will be a hearing not on Harvard Christians in Action's autonomy but on the Boston Church of Christ.

"It's quite obvious from the agenda that he wants to have a hearing on the church, not on the student organization," Hrnicek said.

Hrnicek also criticized the COCL docket's description of his group's desire for official recognition as "Request from Boston Church of Christ." "That really ticked me off when I saw that," he said. "There is no such request."

COCL member Randall A. Fine '96 called Epps' decision to convene a special meeting of COCL an "endorsement" of his view that the College should approve all student groups that meet the minimum requirements.

Fine said he had planned to block recognition of five of the nine student groups scheduled to be approved at yesterday's meeting because they do not meet the College's minimum requirements.

"We shouldn't recognize any student groups until we recognize all student groups," Fine said. "The students' voice affected what happened today--Epps read what we said, and he did it."

Besides autonomy, a group endorsed by the College must have no fewer than 10 undergraduate members, be led entirely by undergraduate officers, and have two University advisors, including one full faculty member.