The Cambridge NAACP redirected Lanier back to Harvard rather than lending institutional weight

Evidence

I knew what it meant to be affiliated with the NAACP and was therefore looking forward to the support of the Cambridge chapter. In March, and after the urging of Ogletree, I drove two hours to meet with the general membership. I was the last item on the agenda, which I understood. I was a guest. When my turn came, I shared my story, and saw that several people were clearly interested, while others were unsure how they could help or what they could do. I was perplexed: if someone had come to our branch with an issue like this, our first order of business would be to send a letter to Harvard demanding that they meet with all of us. Instead they suggested that I alone write to Drew Gilpin Faust, then Harvard’s president. — Tamara Lanier, From These Roots, 289