Do the Right Thing, Spike

WHEN we all received our application packets in the mail before coming to Harvard, we read a lot about diversity.

The University is hell-bent on the notion that we will all learn more if we have students of diverse ethnicities, sexual preferences and socio-economic backgrounds everywhere--in the houses, in the dining halls and in the classrooms. Administrators, professors and students all bend over backwards to create a diverse atmosphere at Harvard.

But the University seems to bend over further for Spike Lee. When Harvard's newest teacher gave his first lecture, he made a mockery of Harvard's supposed dedication to diversity--and Harvard was there to back him up.

SANDERS Theatre was packed with students of different ethnic and academic backgrounds at Lee's first lecture. But then Lee announced that he was looking forward to imparting his knowledge to "young Afro-American film-makers." And when asked which students would be admitted to his class, Lee answered, "First of all, this is for Afro-Am majors."

Then he said that he would let in "some of those "what are they called?"--at which point he turned to Dean of Students Archie C. Epps and the head teaching fellow for help with the name of those other people that would be taking the course. "Oh yeah," he added, "VES majors."

Visual and Environmental Studies is a cumbersome and odd name. There's no reason that Lee, who is new to Harvard, should remember it. But there was more to Lee's question than just forgetfulness. Throughout his presentation, Lee was indifferent to everyone except the group of students he seems to have targeted in his choice to teach at Harvard.

Lee said he would be just as exclusive with his time outside the class. Harvard's newest teacher said that he would hold office hours, but that each student would be allotted only 15 minutes of his time.

Lee added that only students taking his class would be allowed to see him during office hours. He also said that he probably won't commit to any other speaking engagements while he is here at Harvard, because he is very busy finishing his new movie, Malcolm X.

I know that our visiting teacher is a busy guy. But his presence at Harvard, under these conditions, is restrictive and fragmentary.

LEE'S ideas should be heard by more than just a small group of students he wants to teach. And he should hear from a broader range of students as well. What Lee doesn't seem to understand is that he has been invited to join the Harvard community--and all the diversity that comes with it. His exclusive attitude is detrimental to the cross-cultural communication that we have tried so hard to facilitate.

As a film-maker and a highly public person, Lee has become a prominent figure in one of the most sensitive issues that our society faces--race relations.

By inviting such a creative, opinionated individual, the administration created the opportunity for Harvard students to expand the discussion about the nation's racial unrest. Perhaps some limited progress--at least in this community--could have been made.

The present policy limits more than just the size of the class. By closing off the course to the rich variety of academic and ethnic backgrounds that make up the Harvard student body, Lee is limiting the potential for the students and the teacher to learn the most they possibly can from one another.

Harvard's acceptance of Lee's attitude of exclusion means the community has missed an opportunity for further communication. And Harvard seems to ignore the fact that Lee violates the University's commitment to open discourse.

In his films, Lee has made Americans think about questions of identity and race relations--sensitive issues that many Americans would like to ignore. His movies urge us to think about and discuss these concerns. But apparently he doesn't want to discuss them himself. If Lee has something to say--and his movies would have us believe that he does--then he should say it to everyone.

OF COURSE, it makes sense that Lee wants to limit the enrollment of his class. Students and teachers can learn much more from each other in a small discussion group, rather than in Sanders Theatre, where the professor must use a microphone and the students are limited to one or two questions--if any at all--during the last five minutes of the lecture hour.

And Lee's decision to keep the class small, intimate and closed to the press will certainly create a good forum for free, candid discussion. But more broadly, Lee's method of restricting the class and the exclusive attitude he displayed toward students on Friday makes a mockery of the University's diversity creed.

As a Harvard instructor, Lee should invite to his class students of government, history, psychology, anthropology and sociology. He should make a conscious effort to have Black people, white people and students from other ethnic backgrounds in his course.

If the class enrollment must be restricted for practical reasons, Afro-Am and VES majors should have priority. After all, these students have demonstrated an interest in the subject that Lee has come to teach. But we all have something to learn from Lee (whether or not we agree with him), and no doubt he could learn from the rest of us. But he doesn't seem to want to address the rest of us--the Jewish student of American history, the Korean student who concentrates in government, the Italian psychology major.

Lee should reserve a majority of the class space--perhaps 60 percent--for Afro-Am and VES majors, while allowing for students with other interests and backgrounds to fill the rest of the slots. These students could be chosen by a random lottery or by a selection process requiring them to write a short essay about what they think they could learn from and add to the class.

If Lee insists on restricting his entire class to Afro-Am majors and to VES majors, the University should ensure that the entire, diverse Harvard community gets the opportunity to hear what this prominent, controversial figure has to say.

The administration should have required Lee to hold open office hours or give lectures or host discussions for the wider Harvard community.

I am not implying, as an insensitive student did during the question-and-answer period on Friday, that Afro-Am majors are a homogeneous group that agree on every idea. But by addressing himself to one particular set of students, Lee seems to condone the very packaging of racial groups that leads people to think of others as Others.

THE UNIVERSITY and its policies consistently stand by its dedication to diversity. The college admissions policy and partial randomization in the housing lottery are designed to create diversity in every sphere of University life.

Lee's policy of exclusion in inconsistent with the University's policy of fostering diversity. Even worse, his attitude violates the spirit of communication, openness and diversity that the University tries so hard to maintain. Having 61 students learn about contemporary African-American film is not worth violating that spirit.