BSA Mission Shifts With Leadership

As a high school senior, Erica E. Marsh '91 had no intention of coming to Harvard.

In fact, if it hadn't been for a warm reception from the Black Students Association [BSA] during Prefrosh Weekend, Marsh says she would never even have considered enrolling. But the sense of comfort the BSA provided helped to change Marsh's mind.

"I think any student can come to a university and feel a little alone and a little out of place," says Marsh, who served as the president of the BSA during her junior year at Harvard, "And this is particularly relevant for students of color who are in the minority."

Part of her goal as president. Marsh says, was to make sure Black students did not feel alone or out of place. "I wanted to continue that tradition, making students feel welcome and a part of Harvard," she says.

But times have changed since Marsh was involved in the BSA.

Now, according to many observers and officials, the organization is no longer so concerned with the solidarity of the College's Black community as with the racial climate outside of Harvard's walls.

This year the BSA has been widely noted on campus for bringingcontroversial Wellesley Professor of AfricanStudies Anthony L. Martin to speak, as well aslaunching a protest against the equallycontroversial book The Bell Curve.

Furthermore, the BSA has begun a new pushtoward community service, forging links with thePhillips Brooks House Association (PBH)committeesthat serve Black communities in the Boston area.

But while some see this new focus on politicsand economics as the natural next step in theevolution of the organization, others see it as asource of dissension that may ultimately underminethe BSA's mission of making all Black studentsfeel comfortable and united.

Of the 509 Black students at Harvard, outgoingpresident Kristen M. Clarke '97 estimates 150 to200 are members of the BSA.

"A majority" of those students are activelyinvolved in BSA activities, such as speeches orcelebrations, she says.

This year's board "touched on all parts of thespectrum from politics to economics," says Clarke,specifically mentioning the Bell Curveprotest and a job fair held for BSA members, aswell as Harvard's first Kwanzaa celebration.

But for all the different areas of heradministration, Clarke says she realizes hertenure will be remembered best for politics, andshe makes no apologies for that fact.

"Gov[ernment] is the most popular major atHarvard, The [Institute of Politics] is one of thelargest organizations," Clarke says. "Politics isa big issue at this school, so it is inevitablethat we are going to be confronted with politicalissues."

However, many BSA officials admit that thepolitical stance of the BSA can put off somemembers of the Black community who perceive theorganization's agenda as too "radical."

"Republicans have told us they wouldn't becomfortable in the BSA," says former presidentAlvin L. Bragg '95.

According to Clarke, the problem isn't so muchthat the BSA is radical, but that media coverageof the organization's events have cast it as such.

"The media and other institutions have reallypainted a picture of the organization that's notaccurate," Clarke says. "It's sad that everybodywho could have taken advantage [of the BSA'sresources] didn't...There's a little stereotypethat's floating around out there."

"People make a mistake when they assume the BSAis a political organization when it's not," saysTiffany C. Graham '96, the BSA's generalorganization representative. "Students are turnedaway because of the perception that it's a radicalorganization."

Graham, who is also a member of the PBH's boardof directors, says the BSA's new push towardcommunity service is the beginning of "a goodtrend."

"It's extremely important for minorities to beinvolved in service," Graham says.

This year, the BSA has recruited its membersfor Mission Hill and Academy Homes afterschoolprograms, as well as for a variety of one-dayservice projects that serve the Black community inthe Boston area.

Kim M. Nichols '97, co-director of the MissionHill Afterschool Program, says the BSA'srecruitment has dramatically increased the numberof counselors involved in the program.

"As far as the BSA is concerned, a lot morefreshmen are involved, which is really positive,"Nichols says. "A lot of Black men are involved,which is really good because a lot of kids do nothave positive male role models."

But Nichols says these communityaccomplishments are often eclipsed by "bad pressor ridiculous messages" about the BSA's radicalpolitics.

Zahir R. Ali '94, BSA president during hisjunior year, says the BSA's agenda is changing,but that change is natural in an organizationseeking to re-energize the Harvard community.

"It's really just been following thatevolutionary path, but before you can branch outyou have to become rooted," he says.

Although Ali says his administration "spent alot of time rooting," trying to educate members ofthe BSA and staying tuned to Harvard issues,Clarke's administration has begun to "branch out"by "dealing with a lot of issues that wererelevant to students at Harvard but weren'tconfined to the campus."

Ali says the focus of his administration wasmostly on educating students through forums,speakers and discussions.

Ali, whose administration brought speakersranging from the controversial Sister Souljah andLeonard Jeffries to the less controversialLorraine Carey, says the BSA does not purport torepresent all of the Black students on campus.

Rather, Ali says the BSA serves a"complementary role" to the more prominent schoolsof thought at Harvard.

"The traditional liberal bourgeoisintegrationist viewpoint is very readily availableto Harvard students," Ali says. "We also wanted tolook at the other ideas that have been part of theBlack freedom struggle."

The BSA does not necessarily represent theviews of all of Harvard's Black students, Alisays, and to assume that it does would be toassume that Black students are somehow separatefrom the Harvard community as a whole.

"If you see Harvard as an integrated school, asone where Black students are interacting withother students, the BSA is only part of the largerpicture," Ali says, adding that the BSA can onlybe seen as representing all of Harvard's Blackcommunity "if you see Black students as aghettoized, segregated people who are notinteracting with the rest of the University."

Ali says the members of the BSA are united notby a common culture or common background, but bytheir common identity as Harvard students.

"What the BSA is doing is not the entire Blackexperience--it's also going to theclassroom...going to the same dining hall, eatingthe same food, attending a lot of the same socialevents," Ali says. "We were students at Harvardbefore we could be in the Black StudentsAssociation."

There are also those who criticize the BSA fortrying to tackle political issues at all. JeffreyB. Ferguson '85, who wrote his senior thesis onthe BSA at Harvard, says the notion of"difference" that underlies the BSA's agenda isnothing more than a "surface level difference."

"When they get into the substance of their ownBlackness, there's not much there," Ferguson says."They are not much different from the otherstudents in the university in how they think, howthey talk, what they wear."

Ferguson, who says he's "pretty impatient" withthe BSA, describes the organization as "ventingover nonsense."

"It's hard to make a decision to join anorganization that has nothing to go for it exceptskin color," Ferguson says. When it comes topolitics, Ferguson says the BSA tends to"piggyback" on national issues.

The solution to the problem of politics,according to Ferguson, is to avoid making the BSAinto a "race watchdog organization" and instead"pick a concrete goal," such as raising the gradepoint average of BSA members or to encourage Blackstudents to "take over" existing newspapers suchas The Crimson and the Independent rather thancreating their own publications.

"That way race issues get covered quite a lot,"Ferguson says

Furthermore, the BSA has begun a new pushtoward community service, forging links with thePhillips Brooks House Association (PBH)committeesthat serve Black communities in the Boston area.

But while some see this new focus on politicsand economics as the natural next step in theevolution of the organization, others see it as asource of dissension that may ultimately underminethe BSA's mission of making all Black studentsfeel comfortable and united.

Of the 509 Black students at Harvard, outgoingpresident Kristen M. Clarke '97 estimates 150 to200 are members of the BSA.

"A majority" of those students are activelyinvolved in BSA activities, such as speeches orcelebrations, she says.

This year's board "touched on all parts of thespectrum from politics to economics," says Clarke,specifically mentioning the Bell Curveprotest and a job fair held for BSA members, aswell as Harvard's first Kwanzaa celebration.

But for all the different areas of heradministration, Clarke says she realizes hertenure will be remembered best for politics, andshe makes no apologies for that fact.

"Gov[ernment] is the most popular major atHarvard, The [Institute of Politics] is one of thelargest organizations," Clarke says. "Politics isa big issue at this school, so it is inevitablethat we are going to be confronted with politicalissues."

However, many BSA officials admit that thepolitical stance of the BSA can put off somemembers of the Black community who perceive theorganization's agenda as too "radical."

"Republicans have told us they wouldn't becomfortable in the BSA," says former presidentAlvin L. Bragg '95.

According to Clarke, the problem isn't so muchthat the BSA is radical, but that media coverageof the organization's events have cast it as such.

"The media and other institutions have reallypainted a picture of the organization that's notaccurate," Clarke says. "It's sad that everybodywho could have taken advantage [of the BSA'sresources] didn't...There's a little stereotypethat's floating around out there."

"People make a mistake when they assume the BSAis a political organization when it's not," saysTiffany C. Graham '96, the BSA's generalorganization representative. "Students are turnedaway because of the perception that it's a radicalorganization."

Graham, who is also a member of the PBH's boardof directors, says the BSA's new push towardcommunity service is the beginning of "a goodtrend."

"It's extremely important for minorities to beinvolved in service," Graham says.

This year, the BSA has recruited its membersfor Mission Hill and Academy Homes afterschoolprograms, as well as for a variety of one-dayservice projects that serve the Black community inthe Boston area.

Kim M. Nichols '97, co-director of the MissionHill Afterschool Program, says the BSA'srecruitment has dramatically increased the numberof counselors involved in the program.

"As far as the BSA is concerned, a lot morefreshmen are involved, which is really positive,"Nichols says. "A lot of Black men are involved,which is really good because a lot of kids do nothave positive male role models."

But Nichols says these communityaccomplishments are often eclipsed by "bad pressor ridiculous messages" about the BSA's radicalpolitics.

Zahir R. Ali '94, BSA president during hisjunior year, says the BSA's agenda is changing,but that change is natural in an organizationseeking to re-energize the Harvard community.

"It's really just been following thatevolutionary path, but before you can branch outyou have to become rooted," he says.

Although Ali says his administration "spent alot of time rooting," trying to educate members ofthe BSA and staying tuned to Harvard issues,Clarke's administration has begun to "branch out"by "dealing with a lot of issues that wererelevant to students at Harvard but weren'tconfined to the campus."

Ali says the focus of his administration wasmostly on educating students through forums,speakers and discussions.

Ali, whose administration brought speakersranging from the controversial Sister Souljah andLeonard Jeffries to the less controversialLorraine Carey, says the BSA does not purport torepresent all of the Black students on campus.

Rather, Ali says the BSA serves a"complementary role" to the more prominent schoolsof thought at Harvard.

"The traditional liberal bourgeoisintegrationist viewpoint is very readily availableto Harvard students," Ali says. "We also wanted tolook at the other ideas that have been part of theBlack freedom struggle."

The BSA does not necessarily represent theviews of all of Harvard's Black students, Alisays, and to assume that it does would be toassume that Black students are somehow separatefrom the Harvard community as a whole.

"If you see Harvard as an integrated school, asone where Black students are interacting withother students, the BSA is only part of the largerpicture," Ali says, adding that the BSA can onlybe seen as representing all of Harvard's Blackcommunity "if you see Black students as aghettoized, segregated people who are notinteracting with the rest of the University."

Ali says the members of the BSA are united notby a common culture or common background, but bytheir common identity as Harvard students.

"What the BSA is doing is not the entire Blackexperience--it's also going to theclassroom...going to the same dining hall, eatingthe same food, attending a lot of the same socialevents," Ali says. "We were students at Harvardbefore we could be in the Black StudentsAssociation."

There are also those who criticize the BSA fortrying to tackle political issues at all. JeffreyB. Ferguson '85, who wrote his senior thesis onthe BSA at Harvard, says the notion of"difference" that underlies the BSA's agenda isnothing more than a "surface level difference."

"When they get into the substance of their ownBlackness, there's not much there," Ferguson says."They are not much different from the otherstudents in the university in how they think, howthey talk, what they wear."

Ferguson, who says he's "pretty impatient" withthe BSA, describes the organization as "ventingover nonsense."

"It's hard to make a decision to join anorganization that has nothing to go for it exceptskin color," Ferguson says. When it comes topolitics, Ferguson says the BSA tends to"piggyback" on national issues.

The solution to the problem of politics,according to Ferguson, is to avoid making the BSAinto a "race watchdog organization" and instead"pick a concrete goal," such as raising the gradepoint average of BSA members or to encourage Blackstudents to "take over" existing newspapers suchas The Crimson and the Independent rather thancreating their own publications.

"That way race issues get covered quite a lot,"Ferguson says