Columbia Protesters End Hunger Strike

Leaders of Harvard's pro-divestment movement yesterday called the actions of protesters at Columbia University a sign that student groups at the two schools have different strategies, but are equally committed to ending university investments in South Africa-related stock.

At Columbia, student protesters have blockaded a main campus building since last Thursday, and have refused to leave even after Columbia obtained a temporary restraining order on Easter Sunday that paved the way for police to forcibly remove or arrest the students.

At Harvard, student protesters have lain low after the conclusion of a peaceful and orderly rally last week in the Tercentenary Theater and a 24-hour vigil outside Massachusetts Hall.

Harvard activists said they now intend to concentrate on educational efforts.

But the Harvard activists said the tactical differences should not obscure an underlying unity of purpose that joins the two groups.

"We're with the people at Columbia and we're very supportive of them," said Douglas M. Hagerman, a second-year law student. "The question is which tactics work best at Harvard. The goal, of course, is divestiture."

According to Miriam S. Messinger '87, a member of the Southern Africa Solidarity Committee (SASC), Harvard activists considered a number of possible forms of present, including acts of civil disobedient similar to there at Columbia, before deciding to stage last week's peaceful rally.

Net Just Attention

The goal, the leaders emphasized, was not simply to gain public attention, but to change Harvard's investment policy and to educate the community.

"We want to draw as many people into the movement as possible," said Messinger. "The suggestion is that the action [civil disobedience] draws attention away from the issue."

"The strategy at Harvard is to build a popular strategy so strong that even the greatest champion of non-divestiture-Derek Bok-can't resist it," said Jamin B. Raskin '83, a first-year law student on the Law School Divestment Committee.

The Columbia protest, Raskin said, was meant to "make life very difficult for the administration" at Columbia in the hope that the school would be forced to divest. The peaceful Harvard pretest, he added, was meant "to develop, such an-irresistible political force that that too make life impossible."

Harvard students leaders said they have not yet decided on a specific course of action for the remainder of the school year. "After a major mobilization like the rally, I think it's god to stop and catch your breath and think out the next step," said Hagerman.

Messenger said that a large scale protest of any sort within the remaining weeks of school is unlikely. "I think I can say that there's not going to be an event like the rally," she said. "There might be some mid-size events," she added, noting the possibility of "some smaller-scale protests."

Evan O. Grossman '87, a SASC member who helped organize last Thursday's rally, concurred. "I think there are ways for SASC to speak to against University policy are to remain visible without occupying a building. And We'll definitely pursue these ways.