Biko Fund Creator Urges Total Class Gift Boycott

The class of 1979 marshal who proposed the creation of the Steve Biko Memorial Fund urged seniors yesterday to boycott the senior fund drive totally, including the Biko Fund, which he now believes will be ineffective.

The Senior Class Committee voted unanimously in April to create a scholarship fund under Biko's name, hoping that money donated to the fund would finance scholarships for black South Africans.

Michael R. Eastman '79, a class marshal, proposed the establishment of the Biko Fund as a compromise between students calling for a total boycott of the senior fund drive and students opposing such a boycott.

However, Eastman said in an open letter to seniors released yesterday that the Biko Fund will not greatly aid black South Africans, and that students can better express their objections to Harvard's South Africa investment policies by giving no money whatsoever to the University.

Assumption

The creation of the Biko Fund "was based upon the assumption that in- ternational students were treated substantially different in the financial aid process than were American students," Eastman wrote.

"Recently, however, after reviewing the functioning of the Fund, I discovered that the fund would not actually fill a vacuum," he wrote, adding that "because the College's equal access policy covers foreign as well as American students, the Biko Fund money would actually serve as a substitute for money already forthcoming from the College financial aid office."

All of the class marshals contacted yesterday said they did not favor total boycott, and that contributions to the Biko Fund still have symbolic value, even if the money does not greatly increase opportunities for black South Africans to study at Harvard.

The marshals also said they were aware from the beginning of the limited effect Eastman said the fund will have.

Substitution Effect

Katherine P. Evans '79, a Radcliffe class marshal said yesterday, "Many people were aware of this (the substitution effect) from the beginning."

Evans and Aaron J. Alter '79, a Harvard class marshal, said yesterday that once the fund reaches $5000 it receives an official name, which might encourage Harvard to recruit black South Africans actively.

Evans said contributing to the Biko Fund is "a symbolic form of protest" and that Eastman's call for a total boycott came as a surprise because "it was so late in the year, and Michael was one of the initiators of the proposal."

Eastman said he changed his mind about the effectiveness of the Biko Fund after talking last week to Seamus P. Malin '62, assistant dean of admissions and financial aid.

He said he then presented his new position to the Senior Class Committee in a heated meeting last week. "They felt we knew about the substitution effect from the beginning, and that I was somehow reneging. But after talking to Malin. I felt there was nothing else I could do," Eastman said.

Malin and L. Fred Jewett '57, dean of admissions and financial aid, could not be reached for comment.

Brian S. Petrovek '77, co-director of the Harvard-Radcliffe Fund, said while students can restrict the use of the Biko Fund, they haven't done so yet.

Petrovek said, however, the admissions and financial aid committee has its own guidelines in determining the use of scholarship funds.

If, for example, students restricted the funds to be used only as scholarship money for black South Africans, but no qualified black South Africans applied to Harvard, the University would use the money in another way, he said.

Petrovek added that Eastman "is turning around and doing things without a complete knowledge of the alternatives."

So far, seniors have donated $2600 to the Biko Fund. Petrovek said the amount in the fund would have to reach $25,000 before the admissions and financial aid committee could use the money.

Petrovek said the fund is "an incredibly good start.