AWOL Soldier's Third Day of Sanctuary Sparks M.I.T. Student-Faculty Support

Michael O'Connor, AWOL from the army since September 14, spent his third day of sanctuary in the M.I.T. student center yesterday.

Noam Chomsky, Jerome Lettvin, and other M.I.T. professors conducted their Thursday classes in the Sala de Puerto Rico, site of the sanctuary. Seventy members of the faculty have signed a petition supporting the sanctuary, a Resistance spokesman said.

Sylvain Bromberger, an M.I.T. associate professor or Philosophy, announced last night the formation of a student-faculty committee to tutor O'Connor in jail after his arrest and arrange his admittance to the university after his release.

O'Connor rested much of the afternoon in seclusion away from the carnival atmosphere of the sanctuary. When he returned last night the several hundred sympathizers stood and sang "We Shall Overcome," displaying clenched fists or the two-fingered peace sign above their heads.

Clenched Fist

Later O'Connor, speaking with a soft Southern accent, requested students to use the peace sign for opposition to the war in general, but to display a clenched fist when referring to the draft, because "it is the sign of Resistance." "I love you all," he said to the crowd, as tears ran down his face.

A Resistance spokesman said the sanctuary had been established in the student center rather than the chapel to demonstrate that "acts of conscience need not be restricted to exercise within the walls of church." An AWOL private was granted sanctuary in the student center of the College of the City of New York yesterday, and resistance organizers were arranging a broadcast telephone conversation between him and O'Connor.

A plan for everyone to put on masks when Federal agents attempt to arrest O'Connor to emphasize that "all of us are Mike" has been abandoned. The crowd was advised last night to remain seated and silent when the police come.

Messages of Support

Spokesmen read messages of support from Presidential candidate Dick Gregory, who was planning to visit the sanctuary last night, and poet Robert Lowell.

The sympathizers voted yesterday to have an anonymous supporter with Army PX privileges buy the food that is distributed in the sanctuary room. A student whose father is an Air Force officer told the crowd that the government loses money on PX sales.