Controversy Over Award Erupts In Chicago's Harvard Club

The controversial sale of the Chicago Sun-Times to Australian newspaper magnate Rupert Murdoch shook up the city community--and apparently even Chicago's Harvard Club.

A member of the club's board of directors has tried to get the club to revoke a community service award it gave to Marshall Field, one of the paper's old owners.

But the club yesterday decided to reaffirm the 1978 award, rejecting the suggestion of Emily De Muff '68 to take away the award because Field sold the paper to Murdoch.

"It bothered me that somebody who had delivered such a blow to the civic community should have his name on a list of Harvard Award recipients," De Huff said yesterday. "The Sun-Times has already deteriorated drastically since Murdoch took it over."

Pulling the Plug

De Huff said that she had earlier informed Field in a letter that she was going to propose the disavowal of his award. Field "shamelessly pulled the plug on a major civic institution," she said. "This is not what the Harvard Club stands for."

The flamboyant Murdoch is knows for his propensity to buy failing newspapers and turn them into financial successes by cut- ting costs dramatically and running sensational stories. He has been criticized by some for the low quality of his papers.

But the club's board of directors apparently decided that Field had done no great sin in selling his newspaper to Murdoch, voting overwhelmingly to allow him to keep his award.

Club President Stephen L. Softenberg '56 said that Field's sale of the Sun-Times was irrelevant to the issue of the award. "The award was not given because he owned The Sun-Times or sold it. It was given for his service to the community which has continued," he said.

He said that he drafted a letter yesterday informing Field of the decision.

De Huff said that while she never expected the board of directors to go along with her proposal, she felt that she had a duty to suggest it anyway.

"I feel good about the board meeting even though I didn't get my way," said De Huff, adding that yesterday's discussion had "broken [the board's] taboo on controversial subjects."

According to Softenberg, Field was not upset by De Huff's letter. He added that he hoped the board's letter which reaffirmed the award would please Field.

Field could not be reached for comment.

Softenberg said that De Huff's suggestion that the John Harvard Award be revoked was unprecedented in club history