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THE FOUNDING OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN STUDIES DEPARTMENT The Crisis of 1969 LAWRENCE E. EICHEL "I think, an d i t wouldn't b e unfai r t o say befor e this body and before th e world, that a t one tim e this week we had th e powe r t o seriously disrup t this university ... " Skip Griffin, Presiden t of Afr o [Leslie F. Griffin Jr. , 70 ] On April 9, 1968, a year to the day before th e seizure of University Hall, 80 black students stood alone on the steps of Memorial Church. Inside the church, President Pusey led more than 120 0 mourners, all but a handful o f them white, in eulogizing Martin Luther King, slain five days before i n Memphis. Outside , the members of the Association of African an d Afro-American Student s (Afro ) commemorate d Dr. King in their ow n way, with demands on Harvard , made i n th e spirit o f th e movemen t fo r whic h Kin g ha d stood . Inside , th e President spoke of the man, not of the movement:f, We are not met here to prove anything or to assert anything—certainly not to demand anything; but rather simply to honor a great man and a great citizen," a man who "never came among us but as a man of God." T o the students assembled outside, Dr. King had been something more than a man of God; he had been a black man. "I f they come out of ther e with tear s i n thei r eyes, " sai d Jef f Howar d ['69 , Ph.D . '80] , the n President of Afro, as he pointed to the church, "we want it to be plain 380 Afro-American Studies that we don't want their tears. W e want black people to have a place here at Harvard." Th e place of th e black man at Harvard was far from the President's mind as he spoke; he praised the tactics, not the goals of Dr. King. Fo r Afro, the occasion demanded a reaffirmation of the black revolution. Ski p Griffin, soo n to become Afro's president , reserved judgment on the white man's service inside:"I f they're really sorry, they'll change this school." Tha t same day, Afro issued "Four Requests o n Fair Harvard"; the issu e o f Blac k Studie s had finally come to the nation's oldest university. On Thursda y evening , Apri l 17 , 1969 , Afr o foun d itsel f alon e again. Th e Faculty had deferred a decision on Afro's Black Studies demand until the following week. Th e community as a whole, clearly, would vote the next day to end the strike, despite the fact that the Faculty had left the issue of Black Studies unresolved. Most o f th e Facult y di d no t understan d what th e fus s was all about. The y thought that they had disposed of the sensitive question of Afro-American Studie s in February by their endorsement o f the substantive recommendations of The Report of the Faculty Committee on African and Afro-American Studies, popularl y know n a s th e Rosovsky Report}Harvar d Afro had hailed the Reportas a landmark in student-facult y cooperation . T o understan d wh y th e blacks ' exhilaration in February had turned to threats of militant confrontation in April is a long and complicated story that requires a brief study of the black man's recent history at Harvard. Harvard Afro wa s create d i n April, 1963 , t o "promot e mutual understanding betwee n Africa n an d Afro-America n students , t o provide ourselves a voice in the community . . . and to develop the leadership capable of effectively coping with the various problems of our peoples." Membershi p in the new organization was to be "open to African and Afro-American students currently enrolled." I n May, Afro sought recognition as an official campu s activity. Bu t to many white liberal s a t Harvar d i n th e sprin g o f 1963 , th e notio n o f a n organization fo r blac k student s onl y wa s completel y unpalatable . Harvard's student Council on Undergraduate Activities reflected this sentiment b y votin...

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