MSA to Host Affirmative Action Panel

Members of the Minority Students' Alliance (MSA) met last night to make plans for the year, including preparations for the annual affirmative action panel, to be held next week.

Nine students attended the meeting--a jump from the five who came about two weeks ago.

The MSA, comprised of representatives from different campus minority groups, provides a medium for the groups to discuss issues affecting the University as a whole and minority students in particular.

Plans for the affirmative action panel, which will be held next Thursday, are in full swing. Though Nathan Glazer, professor emeritus at the Graduate School of Education, is the only confirmed panelist, former Harvard president Derek Bok and Roger Banks, director of undergraduate recruiting, have also expressed interest.

Bok is co-author of The Shape of the River, widely acclaimed as the first large-scale, quantitative study of the benefits of affirmative action in higher education.

The panel, formally titled "Affirmative Action in Higher Education," hit a record attendance of 1,200 students last year, and organizers say they want to draw even more.

"We want this to be our main focus right now," said Jobe G. Danganan '99, MSA chair emeritus. "This was Harvard's largest event last year."

Sujit M. Raman '00, co-chair of the alliance, said the groups is still finalizing plans for this year's location.

"We are now looking for an available location large enough to accommodate our needs."

MSA member organizations have all pledged to support the event, said Co-Chair Ethel B. Branch '01, who also represents Latinas Unidas.

The MSA, the collective voice of student minority groups, has plans to host another panel in late November addressing randomization and segregation at Harvard and beyond.

"The purpose of the MSA is to promote a dialogue on campus," said Raman. "This [affirmative action panel] aims to get people talking about important political issues. Our target audience is the entire Harvard community."