Steiner Says S. Africans Suppport Internships

After a two-week fact-finding tour of South Africa, Vice President and General Counsel Daniel Steiner '54 said yesterday that Harvard's embattled internship program had widespread support from educators at Black and white schools and universities there.

"I received a very strong expression of interest in the internship program from just about every organization with which I met," Steiner said of his visit which lasted from February 12 to March 4.

"I put the question to many people I met with: `Should Harvard or Harvard people get out of South Africa?' The answer was almost always `No,"' said Steiner.

"Harvard is very respected there," Steiner said, although he added that American foreign policy is not well received and sometimes proved to be a burden.

Steiner heads the nine-person committee appointed to develop a program to send Harvard interns to South Africa and otherwise disperse a $1 million South Africa aid fund set up early this fall.

His trip to South Africa to solicit interest in the internship program came after the program was criticized by some activist professors and students as misguided because it was forwarded against the wishes of Black leaders in that nation.

Steiner said he met with a more than 200 people ranging from people who had been jailed to people "who didn't know if they would be detained tomorrow." He added that he did not meet with any government officials or members of the ruling white Nationalist Party.

The purpose of the visit was to investigate the educational system in South Africa and to find institutions which serve Blacks that are interested in taking Harvard interns. Accompanying Steineron part of the journey was Cabot Professor ofAmerican Literature Alan E. Heimert '49, who headsHarvard's South African Fellowship Program, arelated project that brings Blacks of that nationto Harvard.

Barring any violence which might interrupt theprogram, Steiner said he had received positivefeedback from enough institutions he consideredbeneficial to Blacks that Harvard could send itsfirst interns this summer.

The vice president said the committee willdecide at the end of March how many students andwhich South Africa institutions will be involved.

"I'd like to start small," Steiner said of thelikely size of the program this year. But he addedthat if they filled all requests from theinstitutions in South Africa they would need closeto 90 students.

A student divestment activist group, theSouthern Africa Solidarity Committee (SASC),blasted the program early last month in a lengthlyreport. That report, based on a list of availableinternships made available to interested Harvardstudents before Steiner made his trip, saidHarvard had solicited interest from someuniversities and foundations that do not serveBlacks.

The divestment group called for an immediatesuspension of the program and a re-evaluation ofHarvard's involvement with South Africa.

Steiner had called the students' reportpremature because a list of schools had not beenfinalized and because consultations withinterested South Africans were still going on.

But the vice president said yesterday thatwhile Harvard may receive positive responses fromother organizations in South Africa, he is nowsatisfied with many of those that have agreed totake interns.

Among the institutions Steiner said firmlyasked for interns were two predominately whiteuniversities, the University of Cape Town and theUniversity of Witswatersrand, as well as apredominately non-white school, the University ofWestern Cape. He also said several private schoolswant interns, including the St. Barnabas College,the Woodmede School, St. Joseph's, and St.Alban's, which have substantial Black enrollments.

These institutions join the list of nineeducational organizations which had alreadyexpressed interest in interns and sparked the SASCreport. SASC criticized all but one of thoselisted and suggested other schools and programswhich genuinely help Blacks.

Two of the organizations mentioned by Steineryesterday were among those proposed by SASC,including Black Sash, a white run civil rightsgroup, which Steiner said definitely wantsinterns. Another civil rights group mentioned bySteiner was the Legal Resources Center, which hasalready had Law School interns.

"The list of organizations [interested ininterns] still has not gotten beyond those headedand funded by white liberals," said Damon A.Silvers '86, the author of the SASC report. Hesaid he felt that sending interns to some of theinstitutions Steiner met with recently would beslightly more beneficial to Blacks, but added thatthey were basically similar to those on theprevious list.

Silvers also called on Steiner to make publicexactly who he spoke with in South Africa so "thecommunity could properly evaluate his efforts."Silvers said he believes many Black South Africansdo not approve of the internship program and thatSteiner may not have spoken with political leadersof the Black community.

Steiner said he felt his primarily goal inSouth Africa was to meet with educators, notpoliticians