The president's comments, however, received a mixed response from Singleton.

She says that she was relieved to hear that Rudenstine came out against the memorial, but was concerned by his failure to unequivocally condemn it.

"I was very disappointed that he would assume there would be a time when the Confederacy would no longer be controversial or that the genocide of a particular group of people could be seen as relative," she says. "I was disappointed in him not questioning it on a moral ground."

Singleton says that if the names of Confederate soldiers are memorialized, "they should be [remembered] as enemies. They were enemies of the United States."

But supporters, like its architect Gomes, continue to be quite vocal.

"I am convinced that the consideration of a memorial to the Southern dead is a proper consideration for a community such as ours, and I continue to believe that such a memorial is rooted in right principles and capable of speaking a truth that goes beyond the mere facts of the Civil War," Gomes wrote in a letter to the Crimson.

"If we are always to be 'enemy' and 'victor' with no hope of transcending those designations that kill and divide, then it appears that we can take no profit from tragedy and that the future will always be held hostage to the past," he added.

But the fact remains that to this point he has been unable to convince the campus at-large of his convictions.

Student reaction

Leaders of black student groups unanimously condemn the proposal on a variety of grounds.

The most fervent objections come from along the same lines as the Singleton's letter and focus on the message the memorial would send.

"It marginalizes the brutality and inhumanity of slavery," says Kristal C. O'Bryant '98, chair of the BSA. "You can't honor the soldiers without, implicitly at least, recognizing what they fought for. Any type of recognition [of the soldiers] is a slap in the face to the black community at Harvard and at large."

Some students were particularly bothered by the effect this proposal would have on the University community and the statement it made about how seriously the administration takes student concerns.

"The administration claims they are trying to change a situation [so that] the students live harmoniously. To approve something that offends the black population is disrespectful and inappropriate," says Chetanna T. Okasi '98, chair of Black CAST and vice-chair of the BSA.

This sentiment was echoed by Bashir A. Salahuddin '98, chair of the Black Men's Forum.