Students at last night's dress rehearsal for the Cultural Rhythms performance festival expressed mixed reactions to the news that Oscar winner Matt Damon, Class of 1992, will be the host of the show on Saturday.

Foundation Director S. Allen Counter said the Good Will Hunting star deserves to receive the Foundation's artist of the year award and to host the event because of his humanitarian and professional efforts.

"Matt Damon is one of the most brilliant young actors in Hollywood today," said Counter, who is also associate professor of neurology at the Harvard Medical School. "In addition to his outstanding work as actor, producer, and screenwriter, he is also concerned about youth violence and has made important contributions to the Aids Action Committee."

"He is an excellent symbol of achievement and compassion for young people of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds," Counter added.

But students at the festival debated the merits of having a white host, rather than a person of color.

Victoria Tse '03 said that choosing Damon for the host of Cultural Rhythms, a festival sponsored by the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, seems to go against what the event stands for.

"I was kind of confused," she said. "The majority is Caucasian and the point of this show is to let minorities show their culture."

But Kitso Lemo '02 argued that race should be irrelevant to the choice.