Minority Groups Won't Promote Own Student Government Slate

Minority groups have decided against forming a united front to endorse the candidacies of minority students in the upcoming Undergraduate Council elections, leaders of several of the groups said yesterday.

When the council's construction was approved last spring without a clause setting aside a number of seats for minority groups, many minority leaders said they would work to ensure that a large number of minority candidates are elected in their own right.

But leaders of groups said yesterday they are afraid that publicly promoting a slate might back fire and make it appear that minority groups are trying to control the new student government.

"It's not in our best interest to publicly do anything about student government," Curtis Hairston '84, president of the Black Students Association (BSA), said yesterday.

Hairston pointed to the announcement by several radical groups yesterday that they would try to run for Undergraduate Council seats as the kind of public announcement that might be detrimental to special interest groups.

"If people think these radicals are going to run student government, people who are more moderate might run," he said.

Self-Defeating

Andrew Ting '83, president of the Asian American Association (AAA), said yesterday that although his group will still work for a minority representation clause in the new Undergraduate Council, openly backing minority candidates would be self-defeating.

Ting said that, viewed pragmatically, minority backing might not be an asset to a candidate. "The problem with that is that people who run are supposed to represent their House," he said, "and if a person is elected, his first duty is to the House."

"We certainly don't want to create any impression that the minorities are trying to take over" the Undergraduate Council, he said.

Minority group leaders joined together last spring in a Third World coalition to try to defeat the current constitution because it lacks a minority representation clause. But Lisa Quitoz '83, who was active in the coalition last spring, said yesterday the group has not yet met this term or planned any strategy for the upcoming elections.

Sharon J. Orr '83, president of the Radcliffe Union of Students (RUS), said yesterday RUS has no plans to encourage women candidates, either.

"I think that it would not be a good idea for us to separate out women." Orr said, adding, however, that "if there is a specific problem with the council later on issues, then we would address it.