When students occupied University Hall in the spring of 1969, one of their demands was the creation of an Afro-American center on campus, designed as a meeting place and social center for Black students. Two other institutions sprung from demands of those days of heated confrontation have endured--the Afro-American Studies Department and the W.E.B. DuBois Institute.

But the Afro-American Center, originally student-run and financially independent, has not. The center could not generate enough funds or solicit enough contributions to keep itself afloat. The University did not actively pursue funding sources when the center began to founder. Moreover, students found they couldn't maintain a program of the center's magnitude without full-time staff, whose salaries further depleted available resources.

First located on Sacramento St., the center moved a couple of times. But, "by the time they found an optimal site, funds were way down, student participation was way down, and soon there was nothing left," Lydia P. Jackson '82, president of the Black Students Association, says. Five years ago, it went under, leaving Harvard without a center for minority students.

Similar protest at other universities across the country spawned similar centers. In contrast to Harvard's experience, many of these have succeeded and play vital roles in the lives of minority students. Officials and students at these schools say they cannot envision their university without one, and they agree that Harvard should establish a Third World center. "Harvard can take a strong, leading place in the area of Third World centers," Pat Romney, director of Yale's Black/Afro-American center, says.

Aside from the Afro-American center, Yale has a center for Puerto Rican students, while Asian-Americans and Chicanos share one. They all receive operating funds from the budget of the dean of student affairs, and programming funds from membership fees. It costs an undergraduate $26 per year to join the Afro-American center. Romney is responsible to the dean, and a board composed of faculty, administrators and students governs the center.

Kathy Guy, a junior at Yale active in governance of the Afro-Am center, calls the center "necessary. "It's important at a predominately white school to establish an identity--it's not that we necessarily want to form a separate group, but we have unique clesires and needs that the university cannot provide for," Guy says.

Romney also stresses that the purpose of Yale's various centers is not to isolate students. "We talk of a 'successful' minority student as one who can operate well in either environment," she says, adding, "Since there's always pressure to be assimilated, a minority student has to be presented with options."

Harvard undergraduates trying to set up a Third World center here emphasize that the facility would prove an "option" for nonminority students as well. Jackson says, "We don't view the proposal as our own little island. A Third World center would be neutral ground for the entire University community." But Romney says whites at Yale have not fully accepted the Afro-Am center. "There's a lot of resentment--essentially, the issue is a primitive one. White students resent "Black students on campus."

Romney quickly adds that an increasing number of non-minority students use the facility, saying. "The situation's better now than five or ten years ago." The administration's attitude toward the center, she says, has not improved. "In an era of a declining economy, the center is a lower priority."

In conclusion, Romney says, "I can't think of any drawbacks to the center--students always have the choice to relate or not to relate." Guy echoes that sentiment strongly, saying, "I don't think it would be in the best interest of the university not to have a center. For some students, it's the only part of the university that makes them feel at home."

A similar center at Princeton encompasses all Third World students. A 1970 protest by Black students for a center went unheard, but a year later the school's board of trustees approved a petition signed by members of several minority groups for a center. Now, Princeton's Third World center is situated in a frame house obtained in 1973 and an annex--which was built at a cost to the university of $250,000 in 1974. The house has 15 rooms, including two offices, two meetings rooms, a library and a study area. The annex has a room seating about 350, a recreation hall, a kitchen and a dining area.

In addition to operation costs, covered entirely by the dean of student affairs' office, Princeton gives the center $12,000 a year for programming. Debbie Stapleton, full-time director of the center, says the administration is "proud" of the center, but acknowledges, "Sometimes it's a struggle."

Stapleton characterizes the facility as a place where students "can come to be counseled without being hassled." She says Princeton's eating clubs pose "subliminal pressure" for minority students, adding that the school tries to integrate Third World students into the mainstream. "The center gives students a chance to share culturally, politically and socially" when they might not otherwise have the opportunity, Stapleton says.

Like Princeton, Brown has a center for all Third World students. Formed in 1976 after vigorous demonstrations, the facilty serves 14 minority organizations--including fraternities and sororities.

Felipe M. Floresca, coordinator of Brown's center, estimates that nearly half the college's minority students use the facility daily. Floresca says the title "coordinator" was chosen intentionally to avoid the title "director" and all that it denotes. A recent graduate of Brown, he works full-time with one full-time administrator and six work-study students. The dean of the college allocates the center $60,000 in funds annually.