Afro Endorses Strategy Committee

The Harvard Radcliffe Association of African and Afro-American Students (Afro) met last night in an excited atmosphere and unanimously voted to recognize the ad hoc strategy committee as expressing Afro's position in the continuing dispute between black students and the administration over Harvard's ownership of Gulf Oil stock.

The Afro meeting--attended by 200 people--also established a subcommittee to investigate Harvard's role in the black communities of Cambridge.

The 14-member strategy committee was formed last week after a day of confrontations that included two abortive attempts by the blacks to confront President Bok at his Massachusetts Hall office and a one and one-half hour mill-in at University Hall.

Strategy committee spokesmen had no comment last night beyond promising to release a formal statement by the middle of next week detailing their future plans.

Bok last week offered to arrange for strategy committee representatives to meet with the Corporation, "which is responsible for Harvard's investment policies."

The audience was strongly in favor of the strategy committee's handling of the situation thus far, and speaker after speaker voiced approval of its position on the Gulf issue.

The blacks are demanding that Harvard divest itself of 680,000 shares of Gulf stock, worth $21 million, and accompany the divestitutre with "a public statement explaining the moral considerations which required such a move."

The subcommittee was established after several speakers demanded that research be initiated into the connections between Harvard's oppression of blacks in Africa and its possible oppression of blacks locally.

In a related development, about 30 members of the New American Movement (NAM)--a white radical group--met last night in Briggs Hall and pledged their support to the blacks.

NAM established a committee to meet with strategy committee representatives, discuss tactics, and report to the group-at-large by this weekend.