The national chapter of the Black American Law Students Association has named Walter J. Leonard, special assistant to President Bok, the recipient of the Paul Robeson in recognition of his outstanding service to the minority community.

Leonard, who will leave Harvard after this term to become president of Fisk University, said yesterday, "I am honored, flattered and humbled to receive this award."

Leonard said he was honored that "students recognize the worth of Robeson, put in it an award, and give it to me."

Transformers

"Paul Robeson, like Walter Leonard, was a person seeking to transform the American democracy so all persons can have equal rights and privileges," Preston N. Williams, Houghton Professor of Theology and Contemporary Change at the Divinity School, said yesterday.

"He has contributed in transforming Harvard's traditional class orientation so that persons from all races could come to Harvard," Williams added.

A Leader

"Leonard has been at the forefront of the affirmative action struggles since the birth of the civil rights movement. His energies will be sorely missed by black students at Harvard," Anthony R. Chase '77, president of Harvard-Radcliffe Black Students Association, said yesterday.

Leonard will receive the award in Cleveland on March 29