Kilson Evicts SDS Members Seeking Repudiation of Articles

Six SDS members were evicted by force yesterday morning from the classroom of Martin L. Kilson Jr., professor of Government.

The students, Esther John '74, Marty Reife '74, Joseph Rothschild '73.4, Mirian Sagan '75, Craig Steele '74, and Yolanda Weeks '77, said yesterday that they came to Kilson's class to ask him to retract his recent pronouncements on black admissions to college, and to apologize to Harvard's black students.

Kilson has recently published articles and letters in The Harvard Bulletin and The New York Times advocating more emphasis on recruiting middle-class as opposed to poor blacks.

When Kilson learned of the radicals' purpose in coming to his course, he said he asked them to leave. He said he told the students he had office hours if they wished to speak to him further.

Kilson said later that "they came with the usual arrogance of extremists seeking to impose upon my course the concerns agitating them."

Esther John, spokesman for the group, said that "given Kilson's low opinion of black ghetto people, we question the propriety of his views dominating a basic course on the black community."

Irreparable Damage

She went on to claim that Kilson's articles have caused "irreparable damage to black students, especially at Harvard."

As the SDSers continued to press their points, Kilson yelled, "Get the hell out of my class," and proceeded to herd them out of the room, shoving those who lagged behind, Kilson said.

Kilson promised that "any repetition of such blatant violations of the norms and processes of intellectual inquiry will lead me to seek disciplinary action through the Committee on Rights and Responsibilities."