HRCF Discusses Revisions With Dean

Leaders of the Harvard-Radcliffe Christian Fellowship (HRCF) met with Associate Dean of the College David P. Illingworth ’71 on Friday in the first step toward bringing the group in line with the College’s non-discrimination policy.

In a case that raises deep questions about the nature of group identity at Harvard and other colleges, HRCF will likely compromise with the administration on its doctrinal requirements for leadership positions.

The meeting last week came as the Undergraduate Council awaits approval from the College before it can provide grants to HRCF and its sister organization, the Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Christian Fellowship (AACF).

Illingworth has reviewed HRCF’s constitution, which requires officers to “subscribe without reserve to...principles of faith” that include belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the existence of the Holy Spirit, to determine whether it unfairly discriminates on the basis of religious faith.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) policy states that no official undergraduate organization may have a constitution that discriminates on the basis of creed, among other characteristics. Only officially recognized groups may receive council funding.

Prisca E. Shrewsbury ’03, a member of HRCF’s executive board, said the meeting she and two other HRCF leaders had with Illingworth did not result in any definite change.

“Right now, we haven’t made any decisions at all,” she said. “It’s all very preliminary.”

Deborah C. Morton ’03, also a member of HRCF’s executive board, said the process might be a lengthy one.

“Illingworth has some stuff to think about, and we have some stuff to think about,” she said. “We’re definitely going to meet again, possibly a lot.”

While members of the group’s executive board have stressed the need for HRCF’s constitution to continue to reflect its mission, they have also expressed a willingness to compromise with the administration on the precise wording of the constitution. Illingworth declined to speak on Friday and was not available for comment yesterday.

In the meantime, the Undergraduate Council’s Finance Committee (FiCom) has approved a provisional grant to HRCF, which the entire council would vote upon after administrators give the go-ahead on a revised version of HRCF’s constitution. At that point, the council would probably approve the suggested grant.

FiCom member Joshua A. Barro ’05 said last week that the committee has postponed presenting a grant to the council for AACF until its constitution also receives approval from the administration.

Sheila S. Myung ’03, a member of AACF’s executive board, said the group’s constitution came into question after the council examined in November the charters of organizations applying for funding, though AACF has not spoken with Illingworth about the matter.

“We haven’t actually heard anything from the administration,” she said, though she added that it seems likely that the group will reach a resolution with the administration.

Under Construction, a Christian a capella group, inadvertently had their grant application withdrawn after a “slight miscommunication” between Under Construction and outgoing council Treasurer Eric J. Powell ’03, according to Jinna Chung ’04, the singing group’s manager.

After Powell told Chung the group’s constitution might violate the College’s non-discrimination policy, he said he thought Chung asked that the group’s application for a grant be rescinded.

Their constitution lists as one of the requirements for membership that the “Individual claims Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord.”

Chung said that the group has no current plans to resubmit their grant application.

The HRCF case has led other religious and cultural student groups to reflect on the necessity of setting requirements for members and leaders to safeguard the groups’ missions.

Benjamin P. Solomon-Schwartz ’03, president of Harvard Hillel, said he does not believe a faith requirement for leaders of religious groups is essential.

He added that while some have expressed concerns that people without an interest in the Jewish community at Harvard could ascend to elected positions in Hillel because the group’s constitution has no religious faith requirements for its leaders, “I don’t think that’s a real concern. It doesn’t seem necessary to write that [religious faith requirement] into the constitution.”

Under Construction’s religious requirement “didn’t pose a problem in the past because it’s self-selected,” Chung said.

Avi D. Heilman ’03, former president of Harvard Students for Israel and a member of the Society of Arab Students (SAS), said he shouldn’t be excluded from SAS even though many SAS members strongly disagree with his views.

“I don’t think it puts the identity of any group in danger,” he said of not having constitutional stipulations that discriminate on the basis of religious or ideological beliefs when choosing leadership. “I don’t think I endanger the identity of the Society of Arab Students.”

He also said that if a group were “taken over” by those who disagree with the group’s professed purpose, “I feel the members should just start another group.”

While some student leaders like Heilman and Solomon-Schwartz oppose the membership and leadership restrictions, at least one national activist group is fighting to preserve them.

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a Philadelphia-based group that focuses on free-speech issues at colleges and universities throughout the country, has protested similar incidents of administrative intervention in religious student groups on other campuses.

The administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill threatened its chapters of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship—a national, interdenominational organization that has chapters on over 500 campuses—with loss of funding and recognition unless they eliminated the faith requirement for their leaders by the end of this month.

After an outcry against the demands, the university reversed itself, allowing the chapters to keep the requirement.

FIRE also criticized Rutgers University in New Jersey for withdrawing funding and access to university facilities from a resident chapter of InterVarsity. FIRE Legal Network attorney David A. French filed a lawsuit against Rutgers in Federal District Court. FIRE itself does not litigate.

Although InterVarsity’s website lists both HRCF and AACF as chapters of the organization, leaders from both groups said that categroaization was inaccurate.

“Our staff is InterVarsity, but they’re not officially HRCF,” said Morton. “They’re just there to help us.” Myung said AACF’s “local autonomy” is not violated by any ties it has with InterVarsity.

The FAS Student Handbook says that “Recognized organizations must maintain their local autonomy.”

“The criterion for local autonomy shall be whether the college organization makes all policy decisions without obligation to any parent organization,” the handbook continues.

HRCF will next meet with Illingworth sometime next semester, Shrewsbury said.

—Staff writer Alexander J. Blenkinsopp can be reached at blenkins@fas.harvard.edu.