Black Group To Call For Strong Afro-Am

A group of Black seniors and alumni have called a press conference for 3 p.m. this afternoon in the Yard to urge the University to strengthen its support of the Afro-American Studies department and to settle seven-year old racial discrimination dispute out of court.

Claiming "a lot of students are very disappointed with what's not been happening with Afro-Am.," Carol Brown '82 said yesterday that the students and alumni will ask Harvard to hire and grant tenure to more Black faculty members.

Participants in the press conference say they will also ask the University to bargain in good faith with Ephraim Isaac, a former assistant professor in the Afro-Am department, who is suing Harvard for racial discrimination because the University did not grant him tenure.

Since no freshmen have signed up to concentrate in Afro-American Studies next year. Dayna L. Cunningham '81 said yesterday that the "University's neglect is beginning to have results."

With only 95 of the 140 accepted Blacks planning to attend Harvard next year-the seniors and alumni also plan to discuss the low acceptance rate. Aaron A. Estis '80 said the low rate is a reflection of "Harvard's appearance" in racial matters.

The press conference's organizers do not know how many people will attend the conference especially since it is scheduled at the dame time as Mother Teresa's Class Day speech in front of John Harvard's statue.