Tom Rainey, member of the Student Committee on Political Action, said Tuesday at a Black Student Union mass meeting that SCOPA and the John Lennon Society will stop leading the fight to regain fired CHANCE counselor Martha Palmer’s position and will wait for NIU’s black student population to take over the actions.

“We’ve got to wait for the blacks to take the lead,” Rainey said.

SCOPA and JLS members attended Tuesday’s meeting in an attempt to inform the university’s black population of racism and sexism at NIU and to encourage them to fight for Palmer’s job.

Rainey said blacks have taken a few steps to help Palmer, but they are still in a stage of debating ideas. He also said the blacks still are divided among themselves because many of them have not decided if they will side with Palmer or with the NIU administration.

SCOPA and JLS also presented a videotape of the protest inside and outside of the Sept. 15 Board of Regents meeting to give BSU members background information on Palmer’s situation.

About 125 students interrupted the Regents meeting in protest of CHANCE officials’ decision in June not to renew Palmer’s contract after this semester.

SCOPA member Jim Fabris said the blacks made “historic beginnings” when a large group of them participated at the protest. He also encouraged BSU members to consider participating in future “spontaneous protests.”

Todd Ellis, a BSU member, said he agreed the Sept. 15 incident was a historic beginning, but he said it was unfortunate that it took a “drastic” situation such as Palmer’s to get blacks actively involved in campus issues.

“We raised a lot of hell (Sept. 15), but we had no facts going in (to the Regents meeting),” Ellis said. “Miss Palmer didn’t tell us everything. I would like to know some more facts (about Palmer’s firing), so then I can go back and raise more hell.”

E.M. Purdy, BSU elections commissioner, told the students, “If you support Miss Palmer, then just support her—whether she gives you any answers or not.” Purdy said Palmer might be withholding the reasons behind her dismissal because of legal or personal matters.