Steiner denied all of the charges, arguing thathis committee has consulted Black South Africansand has not finally selected any South Africaninstitutions for interested undergraduates toserve. He said the selection process for suitableinternships is ongoing and that the list ofopportunities is not complete.
However, applications from Harvard studentsinterested in interships are due Friday. Anystudent considering an internship under theprogram receives a nine-option list from theOffice of Career Services from which to make aselection.
The list at OCS includes five predominantlywhite private schools, two philanthropicfoundations in Namibia, and two science and matheducation programs.
SASC criticized the institutions listed, calledthe "Temporary List of Available South AfricanInternships," not beneficial to Blacks.
The report charges that the private schools aremostly white, upper class, elite institutions atwhich interns will not help large numbers ofBlacks.
One available internship, with the RossingFoundation of Namibia, was cited by SASC asparticularly abhorent since it is connected withthe Rossing Corporation, a multinational miningconcern which the report states endangers thelives of workers in its open-pit uranium mine.
In response to this charge, David Smith, vicedean of Harvard Law School and a member ofSteiner's committee, said that if the foundationis connected with Rossing, the committee isunlikely to support internships there.
Steiner said he had not studied the list ofinternships now posted in OCS and did not defendtheir value. He said only that more opportunitieshave become available.
Contact with Blacks
One other problem raised by the report is whatSASC calls a failure on the part of the committeeto contact Black South African leaders andscholars. But Steiner dismisses that charge,saying Blacks here and in South Africa have orwill be contacted.
In November Professor Alan Heimert, Master ofEliot House and the administrator of Harvard'sSouth African Fellowship Program went to SouthAfrica to make organizations aware of the program.The professor, who provided President Bok with areport before Bok established the $1 million fund,said several Black educators had expressedinterest in the program.
But in the report SASC faults Heimert forfailing to contact organizations which representlarge numbers of Blacks, such as the UnitedDemocratic Front and the African NationalCongress. Heimert said he did not contact the UDFbecause "I deal with people involved ineducational enterprises."
Both Steiner and Heimert scoffed at the idea ofcontacting the African National Congress, a exiledrebel organization. Neo Mnumza, chiefrepresentative of the ANC at the United Nations,released a statement opposing the internshipprogram which was quoted in the SASC report.
"Whatever tampering is done with theeducational system, as long as apartheid is inplace, the system can never amount to anythingexcept to make the regime in Pretoria look betterthan it is," Mnumza continued. In addition, Mnumzasaid, education interns would damage any studentand teacher boycotts of the government-controlledschools.
Steiner also says the committee has spoken toBlack South Africans at Harvard regarding theinternships by setting up several committees invarious parts of the University.
One such group, established by Merry I. White,the School of Education representative toSteiner's committee, has been meeting sinceOctober, White said. This group opposes sendinginterns to South Africa in favor of spending themoney to bring more Blacks to Harvard fortraining.
Steiner gave no indication that his committeewould reform the internship program based on theSASC report or seek further Black South Africaninput, saying only that any judgements of theprogram should await its final implementation.
SASC, which says it takes its lead from BlackSouth Africans, claims any such program is flawedsince the Blacks do not desire it, wanting theracist nation isolated as fully as possible