Fake Student Is Expunged; 1st Since '36

The Faculty voted Tuesday to expunge a student's name from the University's records for the first time since 1936.

Expulsion, followed by expunging from the University's records, is the severest disciplinary action Harvard can take and requires a two-thirds vote of the Faculty.

The student expelled has been attending the College since last September under a false name. The expunged name belongs to a student admitted to both Harvard and another college who chose to enroll at the other college and consequently refused Harvard's admissions notice.

The student expelled wrote a letter to Harvard last summer using the name of the student admitted to both Harvard and the other college, and claimed that he had reconsidered his decision not to go to Harvard. He also sent a forged letter of recommendation.

The two students involved were high school acquaintances, but the student actually admitted to Harvard did not know that fraud was being perpetrated in his name.

Earlier this year, the phony student petitioned the University to have his name changed on the records, but, when told that court action would be necessary for such a change, withdrew his request.

Harvard officials did not become aware of the fraud, however, until February, when a probation notice sent to the student from the Freshman Dean's office was lost in the mails. The student was living off campus and had his mail delivered to a post-office box, registered in the false name.

A student's name automatically goes on alumni lists after he has completed the first term of his freshman year. Officials explained yesterday that the name had to be expunged from University records so that the student would not appear on any alumni rolls.

When a student is expelled and his name expunged from the records, he can never be readmitted to the University.