"I am not of the opinion that only black peoplecan write about black people, that only Asianpeople can write about Asian people," she says."But it takes a degree of having your eyes openedand your opinions challenged to be a good writerand to be thoughtful about many kinds ofexperiences."

Impact on Coverage

During Devall's time at Harvard, The Crimsonfaced a lawsuit and the national spotlight becauseof a photo illustration accompanying an editorialpiece about race and criminal justice.

The illustration--a picture of two blackstudents with prison-style bars superimposed overthem--prompted the students, backed by the BlackStudents Association (BSA), to sue The Crimson for$480,000. The case eventually settled out ofcourt.

"I was sitting in the midst of this andthinking, `How did it get to be this bad?'" saysDevall of the controversy. `"Why can't people onthe paper understand the anger that the people atthe BSA are bringing?'"

More than a decade later, The Crimson againfound itself embroiled in a controversy centeringon race. Crimson reporter J. Elliot Morgan's lifewas allegedly threatened during an interview withLeonard Jeffries, an Afro-centrist professor atthe City University of New York.

Jeffries delivered a speech at Harvard severalmonths later at the invitation of three blackstudent groups. The Crimson objected, calling himanti-Semitic in a staff editorial. Jeffries'backers reacted with criticism of what they calledbiased coverage in The Crimson.

"[The BSA] said that, `It's no wonder you don'thave any black reporters,'" says Maggie S. Tucker'93, co-managing editor at the time.

Philip P. Pan '93, co-managing editor withTucker, admitted The Crimson staff's lack ofdiversity relative to the student body madecovering the Harvard community more challengingduring his tenure.

"It's important to have a staff that reflectsthe community it covers," he says. "You wantreporters who will come to stories with differentideas."

Pan says that, while he never cast himself asan Asian American role model, he says heunderstands why a diverse staff attracts a diversecomp class.

"It did make a difference to have an Asian compdirector," says Pan, who camped under Spencer S.Hsu '90, an executive editor in 1989.

The Crimson's business board has electedminority students to its highest offices much morefrequently than the news department. Of the last14 business managers, seven have been minoritystudents.

"It was certainly nice to see other minoritiesthere that are doing well," says Young J. Lee '94,business manager in 1993.

"I could conceivably say, `Here's an AsianAmerican that did well and was elected businessmanager. This is a place where I can do well,too,'" Lee says.