Residents Occupy Stage In Graduation Protest

Commencement ceremonies were brought to a chaotic standstill for 15 minutes after a group of 20 Cambridge residents and students jumped onto the podium to protest Harvard's housing policies in the nearby Riverside area.

Mrs. Saundra Graham, chairwoman of the Riverside Planning team which staged the action, moved up to the microphone. William G. Anderson '39, University Marshal, ordered the microphone cut off.

Amid cheers and catcalls, Mrs. Graham then sent for a bullhorn and used it to tell the audience, "We have nothing to lose and we are going to stay here until the microphone is turned on."

After the group refused an offer to meet privately with George F. Bennett '33, Treasurer of the University, and Albert L. Nickerson '33, member of the Corporation, President Pusey ordered the microphones turned on for two minutes.

Mrs. Graham told the crowd, "We will not be pushed out of our homes. We asked to meet with the Corporation yesterday and they refused even to discuss it." Nickerson, Bennett, and the residents' group then filed off the stage and went to Massachusetts Hall.

About 75 members of the group, led by the Riverside Planning Team, camped last night beneath tents set out by the University for alumni in the Old Yard. The group danced last night to rock music before moving into Matthews Hall when University Police ordered them to disperse. The group comes from the predominantly black Riverside area located near Mather House and Peabody Terrace.

Steven J. Kelman '70 then began an English oration entitled "To End Our Isolation." To persistent heckling and cheers, Kelman said, "Is it any wonder that the American people will continue to be hostile to students as long as we allow the rock-throwers, the burners, the totalitarians to represent us?"

A portion of the crowd gave Kelman a standing ovation at the end of the oration.

About ten students went to a counter-commencement in the Yard next to the IAB. About 100 students planned to walk out after Foster's speech, but because the Riverside residents approached the podium at that point, the students stayed.