To the Editor:

I read the racial harassment article in the April 13th issue with great disappointment, concern and also anger. As a seven year member of the Alumni Board and the liaison to the Black Alumni Association and the Black Student Government, I am offended and disappointed that any incident like this should or would occur on any campus, especially on the Bucknell campus. I am in total agreement with President John Bravman’s statement that this will not be tolerated at Bucknell.

When I entered Bucknell in 1949, I joined Phi Lambda Theta fraternity which had been reorganized by returning WW11 veterans. At the time, Phi Lamda Theta was the only non-national, but also the only non-sectarian interracial fraternity on campus. It was only one of five, at the time, in the entire United States. Many years after my graduation Phi Lam became a chapter of the national fraternity, Chi Phi, only after insistence from our alumni board that we remain non-sectarian interracial. No Phi Lam alumni would support or tolerate discrimination on any basis. I was proud to be part of an organization that accepted everyone as equal and truly represented the ideals of this great country. There is no place for individuals, either on campus, or throughout America who do not respect the equality of all.

Nina Banks is absolutely correct in stating that the campus community needs to become actively involved in honest conversations on this issue. I believe that the Alumni Board should also consider discussing racial problems that develop.

If, after thorugh investigation, these harassers or any future harassers, are identified as Bucknell students, the university policy should be “expulsion.” They do not represent what Bucknell in reality stands for.

Walt McConnell, MD ’53