In this day and age, it's hard to start a Harvard tradition.

But for the flock of wide-eyed parents that migrates to the Science Center each March, a protest about Harvard's race and ethnic studies curriculum has become something of a standard greeting.

Although yesterday's demonstration was fairly low-key (please see story, page 1), the annual Junior Parents Weekend protest has previously been a forum for vigorous--and sometimes vitriolic--objection to Harvard's resistance to increased ethnic studies offerings.

Student activists say the tone of this year's protest marks a different stage in the fight for ethnic studies.

"We're channelling our energies into other endeavors which we hope will reach more faculty and more administrators in a more influential way," says Alex H. Cho '96, a member of ESAC. "[Previous protests] have been more heated, but they've marked a different stage, where we had to do that in order to establish campus presence."

Despite consensus that ESAC has indeed caught the attention of administrators, committee members believe that the debate over race and ethnic studies in Harvard's curriculum will continue to mark Junior Parents Weekend for many years to come.

How It All Began

In 1993, a Junior Parents Weekend discussion titled "Expanding the Academic Perspective" turned into a forum for a coalition of minority groups to issue a list of demands on Harvard administrators.

More than 50 students clad in black carried signs and distributed flyers alleging insenitive behavior by Harvard faculty and administration members.

One flyer signed by nine campus organizations called for an "official investigation" into "institutional racism" at the College.

The flyer contained a catalog of complaints, ranging from the dearth of black and Latino professors in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) to allegedly "erroneous and racist" statements on grade inflation by Kenan Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield '53.

The flyer called for Mansfield to apologize for statements linking grade inflation to an increasing number of black students at the College.

It also said that President Neil L. Rudenstine and Dean of the FAS Jeremy R. Knowles must apologize for their "silence in the issue." In subsequent weeks, Mansfield, Rudenstine and Knowles defended themselves against the attacks.

More than a means of bringing attention to ethnic concerns, the flyer also served to solidify and coordinate support among Harvard ethnic organizations. The subsequent formation of the "Coalition of Diversity" included the Asian American Association (AAA), Black Students Association (BSA), Carribean Club, Harvard African Students Association, Japan Society, Korean Students' Association, LaO, Raza and the Society of Arab students.

Beyond the flyer and the protest, the 1993 weekend was marked by additional controversy as Asian students voiced concern over the fact that no Asian-American students were initially asked to speak on any of the three discussion panels scheduled for the weekend. The panels did include campus black, Jewish and Hispanic students.