What Is There In A Name?

For administrators at the Kennedy School of Government, the name of the Engelhard Library of Public Affairs must seem like a singularly annoying toothache.

Two weeks ago, Graham T. Allison Jr. '62, dean of the Kennedy School, tried to case the pain by rejecting a Kennedy School student resolution that called for the renaming of the library.

Allison said that renaming the library would offend donors and would "do little to advance the cause of freedom in South Africa." However, he established a committee to propose criteria for accepting donations and naming buildings, that would both meet the school's financial needs and "avoid unnecessary controversy."

But the pain didn't go away. About 50 Kennedy School students voted to boycott the committee, because many said it would only circumvent the Engelhard issue.

And on Wednesday, most students boycotted the library while over 120 students and professors picketed the school.

Rep.-elect Mickey Leland (D.-Tex.), one of the 32 freshmen congressmen here on a six day conference at the Institute of Politics, addressed the demonstrators, calling the rally and the boycott a "significant and just statement."

"You are going to make the difference in this country in raising national consciousness on the issue of apartheid." Leland said.