“Princeton is a fabulous school, but it is not Harvard,” he said.

Carrasco said that until recently West was looking for reasons not to leave Harvard.

Last week students presented a petition to West’s office signed by 1,200 signatures urging him to stay. Summers has also said that he sent several letters to West over the past months trying to make Harvard a more attractive place for him.

But Carrasco says these efforts were not enough.

“Three weeks ago he didn’t want to leave, but Princeton was calling him every week and frankly Harvard was not,” he said.

Carrasco said he understands that many students are disappointed in West’s decision and that he is “leaving in an atmosphere of desperation and what might appear as disrespect for African American and Latino students.”

But the Latino students at the speech said they did not feel disillusioned with West but were grateful Carrasco had arrived at Harvard.

“In the same way that Cornel West was a prophetic voice for African American students, David Carrasco is a voice for Latino students,” said Luis S. Hernandez, a Divinity School student who co-chairs Concilio Latino. “We must look on him to expand upon Brother Cornel’s leadership.”

West and Carrasco have repeatedly engaged in public debates over Latino and Afro-American issues, including one four years ago in Sanders Theatre.

Carrasco said he is confident their friendship and collaboration will continue but said he still feels a great loss.

“Today is a sad day and I am mourning,” said Carrasco, who said he himself had recently turned down an offer from another university. “What is really at stake here is the aim of a Harvard education...Harvard is as much about hierarchy as education.”

Carrasco addressed the East Coast Chicano Students Forum as part of a weekend conference entitled “Nuestro Futuro” during which students met for a series of social, administrative and community service events.

The conferences are held four times and year and it was decided on Saturday that the next one would be held at Princeton.

—Staff writer Jessica E. Vascellaro can be reached vascell@fas.harvard.edu.