Today Black students remain successful in extracurricular organizations.

As one of the few Black prefects in the Prefect Program and the only Black member of Citystep's steering committee, Allison S. Bryant '94 says she is concerned about increasing the diversity of campus organizations.

"As an executive now [on Citystep], I'm always looking to recruit people so there can be more diversity," says Bryant, also the Winthrop House Committee treasurer and a member of the Kuumba singers, a diverse group which performs primarily African-American music styles.

Some Black students have even joined the inner sanctum of the white, Old Harvard establishment: the all-male final clubs.

"In terms of the stereotype that we are not diverse or that our members are discriminatory--that is not true," said Jonathan D. Quander '93, the first Black president of the A.D., a final club.

Quander, like other Black student leaders interviewed last week, says he has taken on a recruiting role in his organization. "In terms of the A.D., I've tried to make it more diverse," he says. "And we've come a long way." Of the club's 45 members, five are Black, according to Quander.

But interest in trying to counteract the subtle pall of racism, which students interviewed say pervades the campus, sometimes becomes a burden, many Black students say. Dispelling stereotypes and disproving claims that many Black students earned admission because of affirmative action are constant--and exhausting--endeavors.

"It is tiring after a while," says E. Franklin Miller '94, the BSA represenative to the Minority Students Alliance. Miller feels the burden is placed on the Black students to prove themselves and be on the lookout for racist incidents.

"I should put on my resume 30 hours a week for being a Black student at Harvard," says Natosha O. Reid '93, a class marshal, and former co-chair of the Harvard Foundation's Student Advisory Committee. "There is a lot of pressure on Black students, especially Black student leaders. I have put so much time in to make the environment more comfortable."

One way Black students have coped with such pressures over the years has been the formation of all-Black organizations. The AAAAS developed in the spring of 1963 amid racial tensions on campus and around the country.

Ernest B. Attah '66, who came to Harvard as a Nigerian international student the following fall, says AAAAS had to adopt creative membership policies to meet University guidelines for student groups.

According to Attah, organizations were not allowed to adopt racially exclusive membership policies. But groups, like the final clubs, could to operate on an invitation-only basis. Thus, the AAAAS became an exclusive club--open to all Black students.

"We all knew the kinds of people that would get invited," Attah says.

Attah, now an associate professor at Clark University, says the fledgling group lacked sheer numbers to be a major force on campus, but still served an important purpose for the fairly small Black population.

"I've always thought of it as living on the racial frontier," Attah says.