Student paper aims for diversity

Editors of the student newspaper said they wanted more diversity among the editors and columnists, and they added positions to include other ethnic groups.

But Justin Danilewitz, who is Jewish, says the concern was so great that it led to his exclusion from the editorial board. He aired his complaints in a Commentary magazine article titled "Counting Noses at the Harvard Crimson."

Crimson editors say that Danilewitz has the story wrong and that his failure had nothing to do with his faith, but they would not elaborate.

The 125-year-old Crimson, whose alumni include former Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, has about 300 mostly volunteer staffers, about one-fourth of whom work in the news department.

Danilewitz, a junior and guest columnist, applied for the chairpersonship of the editorial board, which dictates the paper's editorial policy and is made up of the columnists and top editors. He claims that two other students were selected for the job because they advocated reducing the number of Jewish columnists.

"Officially, they say there isn't a quota system," he said. "But the editors have shown their intentions. If their rejection of me wasn't about religion, then I have to think that religion wouldn't have had to be brought up."

Danilewitz said that during the application process last winter he was told by an outgoing Crimson editor that she felt it was a "problem" that eight of the paper's 10 columnists were Jewish. He added that the two Jewish students selected as co-chairs of the editorial board were chosen because they felt they should recruit columnists from various ethnic backgrounds.

"In their position papers, they specifically said that Jewish columnists from the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) were over represented," said Danilewitz, who wrote his article in the April edition of the journal published by the American Jewish Committee.

Crimson editors admit that there were newsroom discussions about the high ratio of Jewish staffers. Incoming editors wanted to broaden the editorial staff's racial and ethnic makeup, which now includes eight Jewish columnists out of 16. Black, Islamic and female students were among the six additional columnists.

04-16-98