Word: hraaa
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Harvard-Radcliffe Alumni Against Apartheid (HRAAA) says that new election guidelines passed in June as part of the Young Report illegally discriminate against Overseers candidates who support complete divestment of the University's South Africa-related investments...
...sparked protest from students, alumni and some overseers last year, called on the University to mail letters to alumni endorsing the official Harvard candidates for the 30-member governing board. In addition, under the new guidelines, independently nominated candidates--like Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu, who was successfully nominated by HRAAA last year--would be listed separately from official candidates on the ballot...
...What the University is doing essentially is penalizing HRAAA based on its views on divestment," said Frank E. Deale, legal director for the Center on Constitutional Rights, which has taken on the case. "It's no different than if a person walks into a voting booth sponsored by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and in the voting booth there's a big sign that says the Commonwealth of Massachusetts endorses candidate...
According to Deale, the 1979 Massachusetts Civil Rights Act prohibits private entities such as Harvard from coercing, intimidating or threatening anyone to keep them from exercising their constitutional rights, including rights to free speech. HRAAA maintains that the Young Report violates this...
...addition, officials have been quoted as harshly and gratuitously condemining HRAAA and the organization's executive director, as well as the HRAAA candidates themselves. Associate Vice President for University Relations John P. Reardon '60, the new executive director of the Alumni Association, even stooped to red-baiting when he asked in a speech in February, "What's to keep them from nominating Fidel Castro next time...