Blacks Alter Their Four-Point Demand; Petition Expresses Bi-Racial Concern

The ad hoc committee on Negro educational policy at Harvard has moderated its stand and is circulating a petition to gain bi-racial support for its proposals.

The petition is intended to demonstrate widespread concern among all the races of the Harvard community for Negro students' problems, Wesley E. Profit '69, a committee member, said yesterday.

The committee's petition moderates the original proposals which appeared in the Crimson last week in three ways.

* The committee now seeks creation of a chair in Black studies instead of a chair specifically for a Black professor as was originally proposed.

* Admittance of a greater number 'of qualified Black students is also sought. The committee had earlier demanded a number proportionate to the Negro percentage of the entire population.

* The petition also calls for the establishment of an African-American Research Center comparable to the East Asian, Russian, and Middle Eeastern Research Centers now existing, a point not included in the original statement.

Not a Finalized Version

Charles J. Hamilton Jr. '69, a committee member, said last night that the petition was "in no sense a finalized version of what we will present to the university."

The committee's moderation of its original proposals "does not mean that we are backing down, just that we are trying to identify the problems as they really are and to eliminate rhetoric," Hamilton said.

Profit said the committee is "optimistic" about the prospects for cooperation with the university administration. "We are not after confrontation with the university," he said.

"What we want now," Profit said, "is a committment from the university to work toward these goals." Once this is obtained, the committee is prepared to work with the administration in the careful development of an "appropriate and meaningful" program, he said.