A Jump on Harvard's Afro Review

Things are heating up on the Afro-American Studies Department news beat.

Ewart Guinier, chairman of the Department, last week announced that his Department will release a report reviewing its first three years of existence early this week.

Guinier's move is undoubtedly prompted by the imminent release of a long-anticipated report compiled by a special Review Committee mandated by the Faculty last Fall. The Review Committee, which has been studying the Department for the past year, is expected to make public its findings within the next several weeks.

Afro-American Studies has been a controversial subject at Harvard since the Department was founded during black student protest in the Spring of 1969. Although the substance of the Review Committee's report is a closely guarded secret, Guinier understandably does not want to take any chances.

At a Wednesday press conference announcing the completing of his Department's report. Guinier also outlined the philosophy that has guided the Department during its three-year history.

He said the Afro Department rejects the present value system of American society because "it tells blacks their rights are held in at the sufferance of whites." He attributed the controversy that has centered around the Department to this rejection of predominate American values.