-Harvard could deposit $1 million in the First National City Bank for five years at three per cent interest. First National usually lends out money at eight per cent but since Harvard would agree to accept a lower interest rate. First National could use this interest differential to invest in black businesses. They would do this through their Small Businses Investment Corporation (SBIC) which could put up an equal amount, thus giving $500,000 to a black or community-owned business over a five year period. The stock in the business would be 51 per cent owned by the community group and Harvard would get three per cent interest regardless of how well the business did.
-Buy 10-20 year bonds at four per cent interest in the Fund Development Corporation, the economic development arm of the Black United Front, the umbrella community organization for Roxbury-North Dorchester.
-Buy shares in Freedom Industries, a black-owned enterprise owning several supermarkets and a small electronics company which plans to go public soon.
SOUTH AFRICA INVESTMENTS
Unless companies Harvard invests in which have subsidiaries in South Africa are willing to terminate operations there, Harvard must sell its stock in them. The State Department and even Henry Ford II have admitted that American companies operating in South Africa must obey the laws there. The United Nations Economic Commission on Africa has documented the discrimination in jobs, pay, benefits, restrictions on migration to new jobs. Harvard, by way of dividends, is gaining money from this racist exploitation. The rhetoric here fits the situation.
GENERAL MOTORS
Last year. the Corporation disregarded votes by students, Faculty, and alumni and voted for the GM management and against proposals by the Project for Corporate Responsibility for environmental and consumer safeguards. GM continued to show why such confidence is wrongly given when this December it had to be ordered by the Department of Transportation (with a little help from Ralph Nader) to notify the 250,000 owners of GM and Chevy pick-ups of defective wheel dises in 1960-65 models. GM throughout has maintained that the defect did not exist.
Harvard must vote its stock in favor of the proposals of the Project for Corporate Responsibility to be proposed at this year's annual meeting as well as the Episcopal Church's proposal that GM cease manufacturing in South Africa.
DAY CARE
Harvard must provide adequate day care facilities for children of all employees and students with minimum fees adjusted to income.
COMMITTEE OF RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The recent CRIMSON articles on the CRR well document its role. Besides, since administration and faculty are not liable to trial nor are issues of demonstrations ever considered, the minimum reform must be substitution of an all-student elected and composed group.
Recently the Student Association of the 50 state university campuses in New York State brought suit in Federal Court against the university for violation of due process in disciplinary cases. This might be necessary here.
PBH FUNDING
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences subsidy to PBH should be reinstated at its present $20,000 level. It is disgraceful and incredible that Harvard seeks to destroy the only student organization with continuity of sustained effort in working for others. The budget of this Faculty is $70 million but they cite financial problems so PBH gets cut.
All this moves toward a new Harvard with a minimum sense of social responsibility toward the outside and community within itself. It will be difficult to create a union. The tuition strike will be hard to organize and hard to persuade parents about. The union must choose issues that the majority of students support. If we could do this little at Harvard, we would be beginning the institutional change our country needs. Small efforts add up.
[There will be a meeting to better define these issues and begin organizing a union at Harvard 201. Thursday at 7:30.]