"The Salient wasn't very open to new ideas and maybe my style of conservatism," says Foster. "The attitude is too stuffy for me."

Sammy C. Lai '97, who is Asian-American, works on the Salient. Though "there aren't too many minorities" on the staff, he says that fact has more to do with minority students than with the organization itself.

"Many are just moderate conservatives and feel it's too extreme," Lai says. "A lot are fiscally conservative without being socially conservative."

Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III says he thinks part of the reason conservative minority students are not more visible is that they are not politically organized.

"[Conservatives are] a silent group and we don't know what those numbers are," says Epps. "Black-Americans are quite conservative in terms of military and government policy."

Conservative groups as a whole, however, have difficulty reconciling their philosophy with the growing national trend of minority conservatism.

According to Kenan Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield Jr. '53, who is the faculty adviser of the Salient, Williams and Foster might be right: "There are some young conservatives who are unsympathetic to the suffering of blacks," he says.

"They look at the way things appear today and the advantages that blacks appear to have--and do have--and think that's the end of the discussion," Mansfield adds.

'Pulpit for Political Beliefs'

Many students say, however, that at Harvard ethnic organizations do no better at welcoming and representing political conservatives than conservative organizations do minorities.

Many ethnic organizations, including the Asian American Association (AAA) and the Black Students Association (BSA) have become more politically active during the past year.

While the AAA protested the passage of California's Proposition 187, the BSA protested The Bell Curve and hosted speakers such as the controversial Wellesley Professor of African Studies Anthony L. Martin.

"I have a bone to pick with [AAA] when they say they speak for Asians on the whole," says Yvonne M. Wei '97. "It's become like a pulpit for political beliefs."

Wei, who is Asian-American, says that unlike the political views reflected by AAA, a large number of Asians are conservative.

"Asians on the whole are more conservative than most ethnic groups," Wei says.