Nguyen fought back, arguing that the council'sselection process undermined the fair's claim torepresent campus extracurricular life. Nguyen, whois also a Crimson editor, rallied other studentgroups to her cause, asking them to sign a letterof protest drafted by AAA.

While the UAC resolved the issue by reversingits decision, student leaders said the mostimportant lesson to be learned from the crisis wasthat different student groups could cooperate.

"I think the huge response we received from allmembers of the student body is a very goodindication of what cooperation can do for studentson this campus," said Jay F. Chen '00, AAAco-president and a Crimson executive. "Things canchange and they can start with just one person."

Many student organizations, from RAZA to theWomen's Leadership conference, agreed to co-signthe letter with AAA, and the Phillips Brooks HouseAssociation offered to host a separateextracurricular fair for ethnic organizations onits premises.

"I think people who are approaching issues froman identity point of view have much more atstake," Nguyen says. "From [the UAC's] point ofview, it was perfectly logical to exclude ethnicgroups. But we're being passionate because we seeit as discrimination. We wouldn't protest it if itwasn't discrimination."

This passion, Nguyen argues, makes the use ofidentity politics on campus an inclusivephenomenon.

"If we reinforce these issues, people willbegin to understand. That's really what we'reafter," she says.

A Black Experience?

But the prevalence of identity politics oncampus this year was not entirely a force forunification.

When one member questioned the gospel choir'sincreasing non-black membership in an e-mailmessage titled "KUUMBACIDE??," theHarvard-Radcliffe Kuumba Singers was forced todiscuss larger questions about the meaning of acultural organization.

In a discussion over the group's open e-maillist and a closed forum in early April, somemembers questioned if the group's demographicshift had compromised the group's ability tofulfill its constitutionally-stated mission to"share and explore the full wealth of the musicalculture of Black people."

The original e-mail message asked members toconsider gospel history and the search for anAfrican American identity that surrounded thegroup's founding 25 years ago.

"Understand that when we stand beforeChristians and sing to Christ with an air ofapathy, we could be understood as not takingChristianity seriously," read the message, whichwas provided to The Crimson by a member of thegroup. "Understand that when we go before a blackchurch or a black elementary school and say we'reabout to sing gospel with nearly half our memberswhite, we immediately bear the burden of proof."

While Kuumba director Robert Winfrey emphasizedthe inclusive nature of the Kuumba experience in aFebruary interview with The Crimson, anotherCambia member asked whether the group can"honestly say we're sharing a black traditiontogether?"

Although no one has explicitly suggestedlimiting the number of non-black members in thegroup, most members say these issues of identitywill require serious discussion before aresolution can be reached. E-mail messages inresponse to the original Kuumbacide questionraised viewpoints as diverse as the group'smembers.