Afro Center Will Remain Open Without Money From Harvard

The Harvard-Radcliffe Afro-American Cultural Center will remain open at least through the summer despite the University's refusal of its requests for financial support.

Imani Kazana, director of the center, said last night that administrators have made clear in negotiations over the center's future that the University will provide no outright grants or loans to keep the center operating.

Negotiations over new building space and other requests the center staff has made to the University are continuing, however, Kazana added.

Two weeks ago, Kazana told a rally supporting a Third World Cultural Center proposal that the Afro center would have to close by May 30 if it did not receive an $83,000 loan from the Corporation.

Although the loan was not approved, the center has raised enough money through alumni contributions to "pay the rent through the summer months," Kazana said.

"It looks now as if our continued existence will have to depend on the level of private contributions," she said. "One of our main immediate goals is to push forward with our alumni fund-raising."

Meanwhile, Harvard has agreed to guarantee space for the International Day Care Center, which operates from the basement of the Afro center at 20 Sacramento St., the director of the day care center said last night.