HDS Reacts to Protest

Harvard Dining Services will serve chicken parmesan for dinner tonight in response to yesterday's staged protest by approximately 15 members of the Fox final club.

Members of the Fox began their rally at noon on the steps of Widener library, carrying picket signs and chanting. Their demands were simple: make chicken parmesan a weekly meal.

The protesters also visited the office of the Acting Director of Dining Services, Lenny Condenzio, to make a pitch for parmesan in person.

Harvard Dining Services responded within hours, changing tonight's dinner entree to chicken parmesan and promising to include more chicken parmesan meals in the future.

"They came over to the building here, so we said we'll put it on tomorrow night, and we'll have it on the menu more often." Condenzio said.

Fox club members had been organizing the protest and collecting signatures for a petition since Tuesday, according to a Fox club junior who asked to remain anonymous.

"Between 75 to 100 students signed the petition since Tuesday evening. It was put together really quickly," he said.

Members of the Fox Club were surprised by Dining Service's prompt response.

"We did not expect the Dining Hall to respond. We are pleased they decided to put it on the menu," said the member.

"It's great. Chicken parmesan is my favorite meal," said another member of the Fox Club, W. Steve Venable '98.

He said he learned about the protest when he received a flier Tuesday night, announcing the demonstration at Widener.

Although Condenzio granted the Fox Club's request, he said he doubted the sincerity of their protest efforts.

"The petition was not real. It's part of an initiation thing," Condenzio said.

The Dining Services manager denied any special treatment for the final club, stressing his openness to student opinion in the form of feedback cards, written requests and telephone calls.

"This is not a display of support for the final clubs," Condenzio said. "It's just a light-hearted attempt to have fun and be a part of the community."