City Asks Stadium Ban On High School Games

Cambridge City Manager Joseph A. DeGuglielmo '29 requested yesterday that the University deny Boston high schools use of Harvard Stadium for football games.

DeGuglielmo's action followed a riot last Thursday in which teen-age spectators returning from the Boston Latin-Boston English game in the Stadium milled about in Harvard Square for more than an hour.

Augmented by youths from a second high school game in Cambridge, the mob sent at least seven persons, including two Cambridge policemen, to the hospital.

In a letter to President Pusey, DeGuglielmo declared: "There reaches a stage in our mutual relationships where we cannot permit acts of pure animal savagery to continue."

"It strikes me that in the proper protection of the life and safety of our citizens and our guests within the geographical confines of our City," DeGuglielmo continued in the letter, "their life and liberty must be protected from displays of mob violence."

"There were a wave of assaults and robberies" during the disturbance, DeGuglielmo said. "Several places of business had their merchandise destroyed to the extent of several hundred dollars each. Mothers with children were driven to an hysterical state and sought refuge and shelter in business establishments," he added.

The Corporation has the power to grant or refuse the two schools permission to use the Stadium. Each year, the Mayor of Boston formally requests the Corporation to allow the traditional Thanksgiving Day game in the Stadium. No other non-Harvard teams regularly play there.

No Supervision

"The authorities in the Boston School System, so far as I have been able to determine, make no attempt to supervise this large mob which they foisted upon the citizens of Cambridge," DeGuglielmo's letter said.

But the city manager added later that he could not take the alternate course of asking Boston to control the crowd because he has "no relations" with Boston. The Stadium lies within the city limits of Boston, but the spectators must cross into Cambridge to take MBTA buses and subways.

DeGuglielmo also cited "acts of violence" associated with the 1965 English-Latin game in the Stadium, and pointed out that there were 40 Cambridge policemen on duty during the incident, "more ... than we used to police the Cambridge aspect of the Harvard-Yale game."

Charles P. Whitlock, assistant to the President for civic and governmental affairs, said President Pusey and other Harvard officials would discuss the letter today