Protestations Of Irony

To the Editors of the Crimson:

In light of the recent events at 17 Quincy St. and Vice President and General Council Daniel Staner's response to that demonstration in an official University statement, several questions are raised. To begin with the Crimson's extra edition of 4 24 85 reported Steiner's statement to have included the following. "It is home to have students sitting in at the office of the Governing Board, during the very week when President Reagan is trying to shape national policy about South Africa." Yet the Harvard Gazette of 4 26 85 reported that Steiner's statement had said, "President Bok," not "President Reagan." The similarities between the two men may be debated, but since Mr. Steiner never gave the protesting students a copy of the statement to circulate, we may never know which newspaper contained the correct quotation.

In any case, Mr. Steiner has quite misunderstood the ironies of the protest. It is ironic that while nearly 45 students who sat quietly on the second floor and studied the subject or apartheid in South Africa were addressed by Deans Epps and Toy, and Chief Johnson of the H.U.P.D., Mr. Steiner chose to remain on the first floor of the building, unseen. It is ironic, providing that Crimson had the correct quotation, that Mr. Steiner feels that President Reagan's policy-making regarding future investments in South Africa would have anything to do with Harvard's longstanding portfolio in South Africa. And finally, it is monumentously [sic] ironic, if the Gazette quoted correctly, that President Bok is so presumptuous as to feel that he can lobby for policy changes in the government legislation surrounding South African investments when he will not even make policy changes or heed lobbies to do so at the University that is in his charge. I would urge Mr. Steiner and the rest of the governing boards to stop embarrassing themselves and, in turn, the University and to follow the ACSR's recommendation to divest. Samuel Sifton '88

Steiner's statement is quoted incorrectly in Wednesday's extra. A correct version of the statement appeared in Thursday's regular issue of The Crimson.