No Delay in Ryan's Investigation

The Crimson's story on April 8 about a South African student arrested by Harvard University police states, "After a ten-month delay, University Attorney Allan A. Ryan, Jr. said he began to investigate the case and, after 22 days, he found that police procedure was proper."

I did not say that. I was never asked about the development of the investigation, and the statement is in fact false.

The facts are these: Mr. Ntshanga's attorney, Harvey Silverglate, wrote to Vice-President and General Counsel Margaret H. Marshall on March 15, 1993 to express his concern about the arrest and to ask that she look into the matter. Within the week, Ms. Marshall arranged to meet with Police Chief Paul Johnson and Dean of Students Archie Epps, and thereafter referred the matter to me. During the spring term I proceeded with the investigation.

After reviewing documents and interviewing all the officers involved, as well as other persons, I requested a meeting with Mr. Ntshanga, which he requested be delayed until after his spring term examinations. I agreed, and we scheduled a meeting for May 27, 1993. A few days before May 27, I was informed by his attorney's office that Mr. Ntshanga would be unable to keep the appointment because he had returned home unexpectedly. He remained in South Africa for the summer.

Immediately upon Mr. Ntshanga's return to Cambridge for the 1994-95 school year, I again arranged to meet with him, and we met on two consecutive days. I then looked further into certain legal and factual matters that Mr. Ntshanga raised during our meetings. I then met at length with Mr. Silverglate to discuss the conclusions I had reached, and I wrote to him on January 6, 1994 to summarize what we had discussed.

There was no 10-month delay in beginning the inquiry. There was no delay at all. The inquiry extended over 9 months, not 22 days as your article stated. Your reporter never asked me about the timing of the investigation, yet your story states that I "said" there was a 10-month delay in beginning the investigation, and a 22-day investigation. I have no idea how he calculated these false figures, and still less how he attributed them to me.

Furthermore, there was nothing "secret" about this inquiry. I was in regular communication with Mr. Silverglate about what I was doing in response to his request that this office undertake an inquiry into the facts, and when I was done I met with him to discuss fully the facts as I had found them.

Finally, your story did not make clear that the police were called to investigate noises heard in the predawn hours in a closed dormitory over Christmas vacation. The police entered to investigate, and they found Mr. Ntshanga who, by his own admission, repeatedly refused to disclose his name or the fact that he was a student. He was arrested only after being told that he would be arrested if he did not identify himself. Had he disclosed his name and provided an explanation of what he was doing in the dormitory--for example, that he worked for Harvard Student Agencies--the police could have handled the matter without an arrest.

Under the circumstances, the police handled the matter lawfully and professionally. Any suggestion that Mr. Ntshanga's race played a part in the decision to arrest him is without basis.

The Office of the General Counsel takes seriously any complaint by any student or any other member of the community about the conduct of Harvard University police. In this case, as in any case in which police conduct is questioned, we undertook a thorough inquiry and a full disclosure of the facts as we found them. Allan A. Ryan, Jr.   University Attorney