During Speech, Activists Protest Lack of Action on Bosnia

Chanting "Justice for Bosnia," about 30 activists protested against the Harvard Foundation's award to United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali at Leverett House yesterday.

Protesters were critical of Boutros-Ghali's policies during the three-year-old ethnic conflict in the former Yugoslavia. They charged that the U.N. has mediated the conflict rather than moving to punish Serbian aggressors as they attacked Bosnian cities.

The protest, which took place on Dewolfe St. across from Leverett, was peaceful. There were no arrests.

The turnout of 30 was lower than expected. Protest organizer Andras Riedlmayer said before the rally that he expected more than 100 protesters to attend.

Riedlmayer, who is a librarian at the Fine Arts Library, blamed the low turnout on Leverett House's out-of-the-way location. He also said there was little space, other than. the sidewalk, to stage a protest.

The protesters hailed mainly from local Bosnian relief groups and proBosnia organizations, although a few Harvard students joined the rally.

"[Boutros-Ghali's visit] is a tragedy of all decency on the part of Harvard," said Javed Sultan of the Cambridge-based relief organization Help International. "Boutros-Ghali has brought about the demise of the United Nations."

The protesters carried signs saying "Never Again is Happening Again" and "Bosnian Muslims in Concentration Camps Starving; Boutros-Ghali at Harvard for Award and Tea." They also passed out flyers as they congregated peacefully on DeWolfe Street in front of Leverett Library.

Before Boutros-Ghali's 3 p.m. panel discussion, crowds of students did join the protesters, but mainly because Cambridge police officers ushered them to that side of the street. As the doors to the Leverett Dining Hall opened, most of the crowd migrated inside.

A few protesters rejoined the group of around 20 people after being turned away from a full dining hall.

"It was a pretty good crowd considering it's a Harvard protest and a cold day," said one of the student protesters, Clement S. Roberts '97.

Other students were angry, too, though not always for the same reasons.

More than 30 undergraduates were turned away after seats in the dining hall had filled up.

"We were herded around and treated like sheep," said Erin F. Delaney '98, who was denied entrance to the dining hall.

Another student complained that the heavily advertised panel discussion was held in such a small venue.

"I think it was poor planning to put this big of a person in a space that small," she said.

But one student did not let the closed dining hall stop him. Salvatore Gogliormella '98 said he was pulled away from a dining hall window after he decided to at least get a glimpse of Boutros-Ghali.

"Boutros was expecting me," Gogliormella said. "He's going to be so upset.

The protesters hailed mainly from local Bosnian relief groups and proBosnia organizations, although a few Harvard students joined the rally.

"[Boutros-Ghali's visit] is a tragedy of all decency on the part of Harvard," said Javed Sultan of the Cambridge-based relief organization Help International. "Boutros-Ghali has brought about the demise of the United Nations."

The protesters carried signs saying "Never Again is Happening Again" and "Bosnian Muslims in Concentration Camps Starving; Boutros-Ghali at Harvard for Award and Tea." They also passed out flyers as they congregated peacefully on DeWolfe Street in front of Leverett Library.

Before Boutros-Ghali's 3 p.m. panel discussion, crowds of students did join the protesters, but mainly because Cambridge police officers ushered them to that side of the street. As the doors to the Leverett Dining Hall opened, most of the crowd migrated inside.

A few protesters rejoined the group of around 20 people after being turned away from a full dining hall.

"It was a pretty good crowd considering it's a Harvard protest and a cold day," said one of the student protesters, Clement S. Roberts '97.

Other students were angry, too, though not always for the same reasons.

More than 30 undergraduates were turned away after seats in the dining hall had filled up.

"We were herded around and treated like sheep," said Erin F. Delaney '98, who was denied entrance to the dining hall.

Another student complained that the heavily advertised panel discussion was held in such a small venue.

"I think it was poor planning to put this big of a person in a space that small," she said.

But one student did not let the closed dining hall stop him. Salvatore Gogliormella '98 said he was pulled away from a dining hall window after he decided to at least get a glimpse of Boutros-Ghali.

"Boutros was expecting me," Gogliormella said. "He's going to be so upset.