"In the old days, if you looked at someone and they looked like they were from Africa, there was the all-encompassing term 'black.' That is no more," Evans says.

Originally Harvard had one black student organization. Then subgroups formed--an African association and a Carribean club among them.

"Somebody in the larger group felt that he or she could be more distinctly defined," he says. "This isn't a harsh criticism. It's a comment...Where does it stop? When do you pool your resources and ally your forces? Even if someone wanted to establish [ethnic studies], is it practical to include all of the groups that have emerged?

"Everybody at Harvard is ethnic. No group is over 50 percent...When you say ethnic studies...almost everybody feels that he or she is [part of] an ethnic group."

This doesn't necessarily preclude an ethnic studies apartment, Evans says.

"[But] it isn't as simple to put it there."

Tan says that although in theory, he understands the arguments against ethnic studies as a department, right now, "American studies doesn't cut it."

He calls the ethnic studies visiting professor program "great." But it's not enough, Tan says.