College Dems Never Disappeared From Campus

In a recent article, The Crimson made the preposterous statement that the Harvard-Radcliffe College Democrats (HRCD) had been "snuffed out of existence." Only by disregarding most of the facts could The Crimson have come to such a ridiculous conclusion.

Neither the administration nor the College Dems themselves have ever stated or believed that the HRCD had "disappeared." In fact, quite the opposite is the case. The Democrats' enthusiastic and talented new executive board has been planning a host of activities for the coming semester.

The Dems Publications Committee has laid the groundwork for a new liberal magazine. An internship program is in the works. Various speakers and debates have been planned and programs to both strengthen the Democrats' ties with other organizations on campus and improve relations between College Democrats from across Massachusetts are already under way.

These initiatives and others are hardly indicative of a "phantom organization," and it is unfortunate that they were all omitted from The Crimson article.

Nor did the administration seem to think the Democrats had gone anywhere. It is true that there was a misunderstanding with regard to the paperwork (a misunderstanding on the part of both the club and the Dean's Office, a fact the Office admitted but The Crimson all but ignored).

But the Dean's staff assured me that the misunderstanding would have no practical effect on the College Dems' activities on campus, and that the paperwork could be sorted out in a matter of a day or two. Therefore, the misunderstanding was entirely inconsequential. It was an issue neither for the Democrats, for the administration, nor for anybody else--with the exception of the editors at The Crimson.

The Crimson ran a story on its front page that even the affected groups, until reading the story, were not at all concerned about. The story was not news, period. The College Democrats is as strong and motivated as ever, and only the misinformed or the absurd could possibly claim that the club had been snuffed out of existence.

Up until now, Crimson coverage of the Democrats has been fair and accurate, and I commend the editors and reporters for exercising good judgment in the past. If anything has been snuffed out of existence, it is this good judgment. I hope that it will reappear in the near future. --Eric S. Olney '98,   president, Harvard-Radcliffe   College Democrats