RGA Votes to Allow Fast at 'Cliffe; Money from Meals Will Aid SNCC

A number of Cliffies will fast for civil rights during one meal this month.

Members of the RGA Legislature yesterday passed overwhelmingly a proposal to allow Cliffies committed to the cause to abstain from eating dinner in the dormitories on May 14 and to donate the money saved to the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

The fast will be voluntary. Those who intend to participate are being asked to sign up in their dormitories, so that kitchen officials will know how many students to count on for that night.

Ellen Lake '66, who proposed what she called the "Fast for Freedom," predicted last night that over 500 students would volunteer to take part. President Bunting has indicated that unless that number sign up, the fast will be cancelled. If it does take place, SNCC will receive approximately 50 cents for every fasting Cliffe.

While the issue of the fast was partially related to last week's heated debate about whether RGA should take stands on political issues, the fast seemed to be much less controversial than the larger issue of political involvement. Many of last week's "isolationists" supported the fast, and the final vote on the motion was 23 to 6, with two abstentions. Most of the objections concerned administrative problems.

The debate on political stands also continued this week--for the third consecutive meeting--but on a far more harmonious level than in the past. Both isolationists and activists seemed to be heading towards a general consensus that RGA should consider specific issues as they arise, but should take no general stand on political involvement.

Caroline G. Balderston '66 urged that RGA pass a resolution protesting a Mississippi bill to revoke the charter of Tougaloo, a predominantly Negro college long active in civil rights. "Integration is a moral, not a political, issue," she said.