Foundation Will Not Force K-School to Name Library After Industrialist Engelhard

The Engelhard Foundation, after discussions with representatives from the Kennedy School of Government's Committee on Gifts, will not require the Kennedy school to name its library after Charles W. Engelhard, whose $200 million financial empire was based largely on investments in South African gold mines.

In discussions with the Engelhard family that three students from the committee initiated a month ago, the two groups agreed--subject to the final approval of Kennedy School and University officials--that the school will place a plaque inside the library acknowledging the gift of the foundation "made in memory of Charles W. Engelhard."

No plaque or signs will be placed on the library calling it the Engelhard Library, and Kennedy School administrators will not officially refer to it as the Engelhard Library, students on the committee said yesterday.

President Bok and Graham T. Allison Jr. '62, dean of the Kennedy School, must approve the agreement before it becomes final, however, the students added. Allison and Bok, who is vacationing in Austria, could not be reached for comment today.

"The foundation accepts the fact that the library is not named for Charles W. Engelhard," Bernard Fennell, a member of the committee, said today.

The agreement "perpetuates and institutionalizes the status quo--the operational fact that until now the library has had no name," a member of the gifts committee said today. The Kennedy School has never held an official naming ceremony, and in its official announcements, it has not referred to the library as the Engelhard Library, but as its public affairs library. "Sophie Engelhard is aware of how the phone has been answered and how the bookplates read," Dean Pineles, a Kennedy School student and participant in the discussions, said today.

Representatives of the Engelhard family could not be reached for comment today.

During their discussions with members of the Engelhard family, members of the gift committee proposed an alternative wording for the plaque that would have dropped the phrase, "In memory of Charles W. Engelhard," a source close to the discussions said. Family members reportedly unilaterally rejected this alternative.

The agreement does allow for "a recognition of Charles Engelhard in the library," a member of the committee said today. "It is not an absolute denial of everything the foundation wanted and gave the money for," he added.

The foundation's gift, with its stipulation that the library be named after Engelhard, angered many students and faculty because of Engelhard's extensive financial involvement in South Africa.

"I thought it represented a gross insensitivity on the part of a school that is supposed to espouse lofty ideals, and I got involved in the discussions because I felt very strongly about that," one of the students who participated in the discussions said today.

The two groups regard the agreement as a permanent resolution of the issue, Pineles and David Kelston, Kennedy School students who participated in the discussions, said today. "This will be a final solution and not an invitation for a back door solution--it's not an ideal solution, but a real life compromise," Pineles added.

A letter signed by five students on the committee and Jonathan Moore, director of the Institute of Politics, explaining the terms of the agreement and asking Allison to establish an advisory committee on gifts was delivered to Allison's office late yesterday afternoon. Allison said last night he could not comment on the letter until he reads it.

The committee recommended April 11 that the K-School review the benefits of potential gifts and the donor's public record to ensure that facilities are not named after persons "who do not deserve to be honored." It also suggested that donors have no right to force the school to accept its wishes regarding names.

Sources in the Kennedy School said today that although the original contract between the school and the foundation required that the library be named after Engelhard, the present agreement does not violate the terms of the contract. "The foundation feels its interests are protected," Kelston added.

Daniel Steiner '54, general counsel to the University, said today as a general principle, contracts can be modified if both parties agree.

A spokesman for the Southern Africa Solidarity Committee (SASC) said today the agreement "represents a triumph of majority opinion within the Harvard community. Student and Faculty protest has succeeded in altering official University policy." He added, however, the SASC believes the agreement is incomplete because the school will put a plaque in the library. "The Harvard community has made clear that it abhors any public memorials," he said. A spokesman for the Black Students Association declined to comment at this time.

Pineles said, "If you give a literal reading to the wording on the plaque, you will see it is a memorial but only on the part of the foundation. That's a key distinction, one I hope other groups will recognize."