A few groups hold themselves aloof from this complex interlocking directorate. The John Reed Society, a Marxist study group, takes no part in political action and limits itself to philosophic contemplation. The same can be said for the Student League for Industrial Democracy, which has renounced all former affiliation with the Liberal Union and the old Student Union to pursue its own quiet ways. Neither the Free Enterprise Society nor the all-but-extinct Conservative League meddle with action, following their own cautious paths unmolested.
There is only one other important political force--AVC. But it cannot be grouped with the rest, for its raison d'etre lies in backing issues affecting the citizen-veteran, not in support of candidates or parties.
The Harvard chapter, under the chairmanship of Stanley G. Karson, embraces a full spectrum of political opinion from Stassen-Willkie Republicans on left wards to the fringe of Communism.
There is no Red ban in AVC, but the prevailing moderate liberal political temper and membership of the organization is such as to discourage them from joining and keep them in the background when they come in. AVC is a supporter of action through the U.N., a strong Marhall Plan supporter, and domestically, a backer of such measures as the Taft-Eilender-Wagner housing program and the recent subsistence pay raise for vets. On the negative side, they have opposed a Federal bonus and the Taft-Hartley labor bill.
Members Powerful Elsewhere
Many Harvard AVC members wield their influence elsewhere around the College, but when they do, they speak as individuals, not as AVC representatives. Its New England Regional Chairman, Arnold Rivkin, is also co-founder of the Law School group for Douglas, while State AVC Chairman Andrew Rice 2G is a member of the National Executive Committee for Eisenhower. Manny Margolis (Wallace) and Hale Knight (Stassen) are two others active within the AVC fold.
When one considers that all this fervor has developed within a year and a half, it gives cause for wonder as to whence it came and how it grew. Doubtless the June conventions and November election will break up many splinter groups at present backing favorite sons. But this is only one of the causes of Harvard's political renaissance. An equally basic cause lies in troubled international conditions which will certainly not die with November.
Activity Mounting
Crisis and Communism have stirred the College to a nervous tension reflected in spontaneous action committees, rallies, and pamphlets which bury the average undergraduate under a confusing and conflicting mass of ideologies.
The noise made, however, is far out of proportion to the noisemakers' size. HYRC, the largest of the permanent groups, has 400 members. HYD, the loudest complainer, has 45 members. HLU has twice, the Committee for Wallace, four times that number.
Small as these groups are, however, the controlling minority within them is far tinier. In all, not more than a dozen men are in control of the entire system. Yet the records prove that their abilities are far greater than the average student politico elsewhere, enabling them to generate the noise and interest that has made Harvard a political hotbed today