Protests Are Scattered, Cheers Widespread; 'Lift the Ban' Pink Balloons Carry the Day

In the end, non-disruptiveness carried the day.

After more than two months of debate, speculation and deliberation over the selection of Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin L. Powell as Harvard's primary Commencement speaker, Harvard's 342nd Commencement Day ceremonies were marked by some protest, but also by loud support for the speaker.

Scattered protesters around the yard called out "Lift the Ban" while Powell was speaking. But for the most part, protest was visual rat her than vocal.

A few people stood up and turned their backs while Powell was speaking in the afternoon. Some graduating students held up mortarboards with "Lift the Ban" stickers on them, distributed by the Commencement Pride Coalition, a group of students, faculty and alumni who planned Commencement Day protest activities.

Others carried signs reading. "If Harvard honors war, who will teach us to honor peace?" "Military Homophobia Kills" and "Even Goldwater Sees the Point."

But a few carried signs supporting Powell, and several people held up American flags when Powell's name was announced as honorary degree recipient during the morning ceremonies. One person pasted "I Like Powell" in white letters on his mortaboard.

The announcement and Powell's speech during the afternoon ceremonies were greeted with some vocal protest, but also with loud cheering. Brad B. Sears, a member of the Harvard Law School Lambda and the Commencement Pride Coalition, said he was satisfied with the response to Powell.

"I think it went well--we succeeded at getting the 30,000 people attending the Harvard Commencement to think about this for a day," said Sears. "I think we succeeded in introducing a message that was [absent] for a long time about lifting the ban."

Andrew J. Greenspan, a member of the Kinsey 2-to-6ers, the Medical Schools gay, lesbian and bisexual student group, and of the Commencement Pride Coalition, said all 7,000 balloons were handed out to those streaming into the Yard.

Greenspan also said that President Neil L. Rudenstine said at a dinner for gay, lesbian and bisexual alumni and students that a proposed administrative center for gay, lesbian and bisexual matters would go forward.

Rudenstine also said that, in the future, the gay and lesbian community will be carefully considered when the administration makes major decisions, Greenspan said.

Greenspan expressed disappointment at the enthusiastic reaction Powell received. "Some of it may have been in response to us," said Greenspan, who said he thought many graduating students wanted a smoothly-running Commencement. "I think some of it was anti-gay cheering. I was a little saddened by the uproar."

Greenspan said he had some disturbing encounters. "As Powell's honorary degree was being awarded, I shouted 'Lift the ban, Colin. A couple of marshals... started hitting me in the stomach with an umbrella," he said.

He added that he had not attempted to discover the names of the marshals and moved to another seat to avoid them.

Powell's reference to the issues of gays in the military, as well as his promise that a policy would be announced soon, brought applause from protesters and other audience members.

Pink balloons stating "Lift the Ban" were all over the Yard, tied to wrists, chairs and strollers. A few of the faculty and administrators sitting on stage also had balloons.

Members of various campus gay, lesbian and bisexual student groups passed out the balloons, along with stickers, buttons and information packets, at Yard entry points.

"We're handing them to students as they come out of breakfast," said Marie Collamore, a Divinity School student giving out paraphernalia outside of Adams House. "Some people walk right past us and say 'absolutely not.' Others say 'give me more'."

Divinity School student Richard P. Taylor, standing at a back entrance to the Yard, said he had not run into hostility while distributing balloons. "A lot of people have been really kind," he said. "I'm energized at this point."

Some chose stickers and buttons rather than balloons. "In Eliot, people didn't think it was appropriate to bring balloons into the chapel, so [none of the Eliot seniors have] balloons," said Eliot Master Kristine L. Forsgard, wearing a "Lift the Ban" sticker on her sash. "But there's lots of support."

Jane H. Silver, wife of George A. Silver '58, was one of the first to obtain a sticker, which she pasted to the top of her straw hat. "It isn't just the Class of '68 who's radical," she said.

But Leora Aster, who attended to see her brother Shawn Z. Aster '93 graduate, said she saw Powell's speaking primarily as a free-speech issue.

Aster, a junior at the University of Pennsylvania, said that free speech had been the dominant issue of the year at her campus, especially for The Daily Pennsylvanian, where she is the assistant editorial chair.

This spring, 14,000 issues of the paper were removed from distribution sites by members of a minority student organization who said they felt a columnist was insensitive.

"I think he should be allowed to speak," said Aster. "I don't want to protest. I wouldn't voice my opinion in this way."

A non-balloon-holding senior who wished to remain anonymous also supported Powell's right to speak at Harvard.

"Obviously I don't know Colin Powell's heart of hearts, but I don't think he's for the ban because he hates gay people," said the senior. "I hope very much that people won't be disruptive during the speech."

Others carried balloons or sported stickers but refused to interject their voices into the ceremonies.

"I think we shouldn't honor his military," said Tracy Grickscheit '93, who had briefly loaned her balloon to a friend. "But I want him to be able to speak. I won't impede his ability to speak."

Despite the heavy publicity they garnered from national and international media, those protesting Powell appeared at least momentarily upstaged by Law School students protesting Dean Robert C. Clark and calling for greater faculty diversity at the school.

A plane which flew over Tercentenary Theatre during the morning graduation exercises trailed a banner reading "NO DICE," the acronym for a student group calling itself "No Dollars Into Clark's Endowment."